The Rift
by JantoFan
Summary: Story now complete! When the Rift opens unexpectedly, it leaves Two members of the Torchwood team somewhere they never expected to see...
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer - i do not now, nor ever, own Torchwood. If i did, i would not be on here :)**

**Ok, this is a very short first chapter i know, i will try to get more up soon! This fic is being written in response to a conversation with my mate Jenny when she said " i wonder what it would be like if this happened?" just felt i would write it all down! enjoy!**

* * *

"Are you sure they were here?" Gwen asked.

"Positive. There were definitely several Weevil signals coming from that warehouse."

Gwen sighed. It wasn't the first time they had been sent out on a wild goose chase for Weevils, but this time they were all there looking, not just her. Toshiko had seemed so certain, about 10 Weevils she'd said.

"Ok, guys!" Jack called, "Lets have another sweep of the whole building, and then we'll call it a day. Maybe Toshiko needs to update her equipment." He winked at Toshiko, who flushed.

"There is nothing wrong with my equipment Jack!"

"Nor mine, thankfully!" he replied with a grin. "Now," his face became more serious. "Ianto, Owen, you go that way. Gwen, you go that way. Tosh, you're with me." Raising their weapons, they all set off on their orders, in search of Weevils that just did not seem to be there.

/

"Anything?" Jack asked about 15 minutes later.

"Nothing. No sign one Weevil has ever even been in this place, let alone ten of them living here." Came back Owen's voice. "I think this has been a huge waste of time. Thanks Tosh." Toshiko bit her lip, as though she were about to cry.

"It's no-one's fault Owen, maybe they were just passing through or something." Ianto said. Jack smiled. That was Ianto all over, always trying to keep everybody happy, everybody mellow.

"Ok, guys, meet you back at the SUV." Jack switched off his comms, and followed Toshiko back out to the vehicle.

The others were all sat inside by the time they got there, so Jack was forced to be the driver. He grimaced. Great, now he was going to have to be focused enough to listen to Tosh and Owen bicker the whole way back. He would much prefer to let his mind drift…

Ten minutes later, they arrived back at the Hub. Jack frowned as he stepped out of the SUV. The air tasted…funny. Sort of tingly. "Can you guys feel that?" he asked, frowning.

"Feel what, sir?" asked Ianto. Jack gave him a look. He wasn't in the mood for 'sir'.

"The air. It feels…strange."

Ianto shrugged and looked at the rest of the team. They all looked completely baffled. "Jack, everything feels fine." Gwen said. "Are you ok?"

"Guess I'm imagining things." Jack said, uneasily. He didn't feel like he was imagining things. Ianto smiled and clapped his hands together.

"Right! I think what we need is a cup of coffee!"

"Ianto, you are a lifesaver!" Gwen told him. The Welshman set off walking towards the Hub. He hadn't gone ten feet when he stopped, frowning.

"Jack's right, it feels kind of…weird." He said. He looked over at the tower suddenly, as if sensing movement.

"Jack…?" Gwen whispered, pointing. Jack looked up and realised with horror that a light had appeared above Ianto's head. He knew that light well, it haunted his dreams. The rift was opening…

"IANTO, MOVE!" he yelled, leaping forwards. He grabbed hold of the younger man's arm. Then he knew nothing but rushing giddiness, as both men were sucked into oblivion.


	2. Chapter 2

Jack gasped as the rushing sensation left him. He looked around as he heard a groan, and turned to see Ianto heaving violently onto the ground. Rift travel was certainly no picnic. Jack looked around quickly, trying to work out where they were. Only they didn't appear to have moved.

"Where's Gwen and the others?" Ianto asked, having decided it was safe to talk without hurling again. "They were standing right there! What happened, anyway? Why did you yell?"

"I thought the rift was opening." Jack told him. "But judging by the fact that we're still here I'm guessing it must have been something else…" he shook his head, trying to clear the uneasy feeling that he was missing something. He noticed Ianto watching him worriedly and grinned, trying to allay the young Welshman's fears. "Come on. Let's get down to the Hub." He jumped onto the step that housed the invisible lift, and helped Ianto on after him. He pushed the button on his wrist strap and waited. Nothing happened. He frowned and looked down at the piece of kit on his wrist. "Guess it must be broken…" he muttered.

"Jack? Everything ok?" he looked up at Ianto.

"Fine. Lift's not working is all. Come on, lets go round to the office." They stepped off the platform, and headed off towards the main entrance to the Hub.

By the time they got there, it was beginning to get light. Jack was slightly unnerved by this, as it meant that they had been 'missing' in the rift for at least 6 hours. No wonder the rest of the team had gone. Ianto pulled out his many keys, and pushed one into the lock. He frowned, and then tried another. Jack looked out over the bay, the uneasy feeling creeping back into his stomach. "Jack. My keys don't work. Someone changed the locks." Jack whirled round in shock and stared at Ianto. Changed the locks! Who? How? When?

"What! You sure you didn't just, I dunno, lose the key?" Ianto raised an eyebrow. "Good point. The day you lose something is the day I become Miss World. Not that I don't have the legs for it." He grinned. "Come on, lets go to Gwen's, even if she's not there I'm sure Rhys will be able to help us."

They were just walking past a newsagents, however, when Ianto froze suddenly, and peered in through the window.

"Yan? What're you doing?"

"Jack, what date is it today?" Jack blinked, confused by this strange question.

"Umm…let me see, that was…and so that would make…and…so I make it the 23rd March. Why?"

"Because according to that newspaper, it's the 14th October."

"What?!" Jack strode over and peered at the newspaper in question. Sure enough, the date read 14/10/2008. "6 and a half months? We've been gone 6 and a half months?! Shit, we gotta call the team; let them know we're ok…" Ianto pulled out his phone and dialled Gwen's number.

_Ring…ring…ring…_"Hello?" Ianto frowned. The voice was definitely not Gwen's. It wasn't even welsh.

"Err…hi. I was looking for Gwen? This is her phone number." There was a pause on the other end of the line.

"Sorry, mate, think you must have it wrong. I've had this phone for years, it aint never belonged to someone called Gwen. You been 'fake numbered' in a club or something?"

"Err…no. sorry to have bothered you." Ianto hung up. "Jack, I think Gwen's mobile got stolen because that was certainly not her."

Jack cursed. "There had better not have been anything about Torchwood on there. She should be more careful. Try Tosh."

Ianto dialled Toshiko's number, but a voice recording informed him that it was not in service. He hung up and tried Owen. The phone rung for ages before cutting to voicemail, where he was told to leave a message for someone called Steve, who would then get back to him. He looked at Jack, confused. "Jack, something very strange is going on here." Jack nodded in agreement, looking around distractedly.

"Ok, so we've been missing for over 6 months. We can't get hold of anyone. We can't go round to their flats, because we don't even know if they live there anymore, even if they work for Torchwood anymore. What the hell can we do?" he looked at Ianto pleadingly, as though expecting him to come up with an answer. The younger man sighed and pulled him into a hug, softly kissing his neck.

"Well, for starters, I'm exhausted. We should get a hotel or something. You got any money?" Jack checked his pockets, and found a few £20s.

"Only if we can get somewhere cheap. Come on."

However, the first few places they came across were full. That was unusual; Jack had never known Cardiff to be so popular with the tourist trade, unless there was some big event on. They managed to find a little B&B with a room available, and went inside.

"You're in luck, pet." The woman who owned it told him. "We had a last minute cancellation." Her eyes flicked over to Ianto. "Just the one room, was it?"

"Yes." Jack said firmly. He didn't like the feeling that he was being judged. She had already given his coat a few funny looks.

"And what was the name, love?"

"Jack Harkness."

"She looked up at him sharply, and then laughed. "Oh! I did wonder about the coat. Of course you are pet. Can I have your real name please?"

Jack gave Ianto a worried glance. This woman was clearly not quite there.

"Err…Owen…Cooper?" the woman nodded and showed them to their room.

"No luggage?" she asked over her shoulder.

"No, we weren't exactly expecting to have to stay here. We got…locked out of our usual lodgings."

"Oh, not here for the tour then?"

"Tour?" Ianto asked, feeling like he was missing something big. "What Tour?"

"Ooh, and you a local boy, too! You know: they show everyone the main sights they film at."

"You lost me."

She sighed and looked at the two of them in amusement. "Honestly, where've you been living? Here." She reached into her back pocket and pulled out a leaflet, handing it to Ianto. "Enjoy!" with that she turned and set off back downstairs.

"Well, that was odd." Jack commented. "Not bad for the price though." He looked around at the room, and went over to sit on the bed.

"Jack…"

"I wonder what was up with the phones though. I mean, Owen AND Gwen getting theirs stolen? Not exactly likely…"

"Jack."

"…I wonder if they think we're dead? I don't fancy having to get all my stuff out of the locker, and I mean…"

"Jack!" he looked up in surprise at Ianto.

"What is it?"

Ianto didn't reply, merely turned the leaflet round so Jack could see the front. Or, more importantly, the word printed on the front.

**Torchwood.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Ok, next chapter for you guys! would have been quicker but i've been swamped with coursework! anyway, Review please coz it makes me happy :)**

* * *

Jack leapt quickly off the bed and snatched the leaflet out of his lover's hand. What the hell was going on? They were gone 6 months, and suddenly everyone knew about Torchwood? The leaflet didn't tell him much, just told him locations shown on the tour. They were all to do with Torchwood.

"Ianto, we need to go find out what's going on." Ianto didn't like the fear he could hear in his captain's voice. It made him feel more vulnerable, knowing Jack wasn't in control.

"Where do you suggest we start?" he asked. Jack looked at him, brow furrowed.

"Well…we could try going back to the Hub. With a bit of luck one of the others will have turned up by now, they can explain what's going on." He sounded desperate.

A little while later they were stood back outside the water tower once more. Only, now that it was light, there were loads of people outside it. Families and couples mostly, all laughing and smiling and getting their picture taken. Jack could here snippets of conversations as he and Ianto pushed through.

"--I know we already did that bit, but--"

"--Outside the tower--"

"--Torchwood--"

How the hell did all these people know this stuff? Ok, he was used to the odd person finding out about it, I mean, it wasn't exactly easy keeping people in the dark about weevils once they came out of the sewer, but all these people? There must have been about 60 of them. And some of them were kids!

Jack rolled up his sleeve and began pushing buttons on his wrist strap, trying to get some sort of signal or reaction…

"That. Is so cool." A voice said next to him. He jumped slightly and turned. A girl stood next to him, staring longingly at the device on his arm. She looked young, no more than 20, tall, with long, blonde hair and startlingly green eyes.

"Err…thanks."

"And the coat too! It's a perfect look!"

"Umm…thank you?" Jack exchanged a startled look with Ianto over the girl's shoulder. "What did you say your name was?"

"Sorry. I'm Kitty."

"Jack."

"Serious?! You're actually called Jack?" the girl looked stunned and amused.

"Is there some reason why I shouldn't be?"

"No, not at all. It's just, you know…the coat and all…you've got such a 'Jack Harkness' thing going on!"

Jack saw Ianto give a start. He stared at the girl, wide eyed. "A 'Jack Harkness' thing?"

"Oh God, please don't tell me you dress like that normally and I just insulted you!" She said, eyes twinkling merrily.

"Umm…well actually, I…"

"Hey, Kitty!" a tall man walked up to join them, sliding an arm around the girl's waist and throwing Jack a look that plainly said 'why the hell are you talking to my girlfriend?'. It would have worked better, Jack thought, if the guy was remotely threatening. He was tall, sure, but also way skinny, with bushy eyebrows and a hairstyle that reminded Jack forcibly of the Doctor. "There you are, babe! Who's this?"

"James, this is Jack. Jack, James."

At this moment Ianto walked over to stand next to Jack, having been pushed out of the way by an elderly French woman with a camera and about 8 children. Jack gratefully took hold of his arm, gripping it tighter than may have been necessary. Kitty smiled cheerily at him. "Hi! Who's this?"

"This is my…" Jack glanced sidelong at Ianto, "…boyfriend. Ianto."

Kitty and James laughed. "Ok, seriously, now you're taking the piss, right?"

Jack looked at Ianto, who shook his head and shrugged. "Err, sure. Course I am. That would be crazy, right? This is…George."

"Hey! I'm Kitty, this is James."

"Erm, Jack, I think we should…" Ianto motioned with his head that they should extract themselves from this situation.

"Yes. Sorry you two, lovely to meet you, but we have to…um…meet some people."

"Oh, cool. Well it was nice to meet you guys. And I mean it, that wrist strap thing you're wearing is genius!" Kitty grinned at them, before being led away by her man.

"Ok, what the hell is going on? A 'Jack Harkness' thing? What the hell does that even mean?" Ianto could tell from the sound of the older man's voice that he was losing it slightly. He took hold of his hand and squeezed it, reassuringly. It felt strange to be the one handling the situation better.

"It'll be fine. We just need to…I dunno, think. Come on, lets get a coffee or something." Still holding hands, the two men set off in the direction of a café.

* * *

"Feel better?" Ianto asked. They were seated in a small café about 5 minutes from the Hub.

"Yep. It's not yours, but this coffee aint half bad." Jack smacked his lips, appreciatively. "I think we should go round to Gwen's flat."

"You're probably right. I mean, even if she doesn't live there any more, they could give us a forwarding address or something." The two men drained their mugs and left the café. "Do you think they'll have replaced us?" Ianto asked as they walked.

"Hmm?"

"I mean, they can't run Torchwood with only three people, can they? Do you think they got in new people?"

"I hope not! With us back that would make seven, and we don't have the room! I hope Gwen hasn't stolen my office, I'll never get her out if she has…" they continued talking good naturedly for several minutes, until they turned into a high street.

"You think we should buy them something?" Ianto asked.

"We disappear off the face of the earth for nearly seven months, and you think _we _should buy _them_ presents?"

"I was only saying…"

"Nah. Come on, can't be that…" he broke off, staring. At the end of the high street were five large posters, all depicting a different person, all with 'TORCHWOOD' written across them. Ianto followed his gaze.

"Whoa." He breathed. The people in the posters looked almost exactly like them, the entire team. They were so close Jack felt that if he ever passed these people in the street he would have to double check it wasn't his friends. It was only on closer inspection that he began to notice big differences. "That is just plain creepy." Ianto stated, staring.

"You got that right. Have you seen that one in the middle? Is that supposed to be me? I am so much hotter than that guy!" Ianto smiled weakly.

"Well, I think we should…"

"Jack!" the two men turned to see Kitty and James walking towards them. "Hey! You find your friends yet?"

"Huh?" Jack said, wondering how these two knew they were looking for the others.

"You said you were meeting people."

"Oh. Yeah. That. Err, no, they cancelled."

"Aww, that's a shame. Hey, you guys want to come to our screening?"

"Screening?"

"Yeah. In the church just down there." She pointed vaguely. "We're gonna be showing all the Torchwood episodes back to back. It's gonna be awesome. 3 o clock. Think you can make it?"

Jack and Ianto exchanged puzzled glances. "Torchwood episodes?" Ianto asked.

"Yeah. I mean, it'll be back on TV soon, wont it?"

"TV?!" Ianto gaped.

"Umm…yeah…where else are you gonna see it?" Kitty looked confused.

"Yan…err, George doesn't watch it." Jack said quickly, mind reeling. TV?

"Oh." Kitty said brightly. "Well, if you guys aren't doing anything now, maybe you could help us set up? We're expecting a lot of people coz James managed to get a preview of series three. You could watch a couple of episodes." This meant nothing to Jack or Ianto, but Jack thought that this might help them figure something out.


	4. Chapter 4

"So, can I see some of Torchwood?" asked Ianto when they had finished setting up chairs in the church hall. Kitty looked up.

"Sure! You only have time to watch one though. Ooh, you should watch 'To the Last Man' it's definitely my favourite! But then I loved Toshiko, so anything with her in was great!"

"Sure. Sounds good."

Kitty grinned happily. "Hey, James! Switch on the projector would you? George wants to see 'To the Last Man."

"Sure, babe." There was a click and a whir, and the projector screen in front of them was suddenly covered with the Torchwood logo.

"_Torchwood. Outside the government, beyond the police…_" both Jack and Ianto jumped at the sound of the voice on the tape. It sounded just like Jack. They watched in growing horror as various video clips played in front of heir eyes, all scenes they recognised as their lives.

Then, the program started. They watched as Toshiko got ready, and went to work. Watched as they unfroze Tommy, explained everything, and investigated the 'ghosts'. Jack couldn't believe it, this was almost exactly how it had all happened! Their lives as portrayed by actors. Who did look creepily like them. It was all too much for him; Jack got up and left the room shaking slightly. He went into the churches kitchen and leant on the counter, breathing heavily. "Jack?" Ianto had just followed him.

"It was the same Ianto. All the same. It's like we were being followed or something."

"I know, I know. What are we going to do?"

"We need to find Gwen or Toshiko or Owen. One of them can explain…"

"For Gods sake, Jack! Look around you! This is not our world, you can see that! Look at what we were just shown! They have our lives on DVDs for crying out loud! We are not going to find the others, because they're not here! Gwen, Tosh, Owen, they don't exist! They're fiction! We're bloody fiction!" Ianto yelled. "We fell through the rift, Jack! We're in a parallel world or something!"

"Don't shout at me, Ianto!" Jack yelled back, suddenly angry. "If it's a different world, then we need to get back! We need to work out a way for us to get back through! Or would you rather be stuck here forever?" he saw the look on the young Welshman's face and felt suddenly guilty. "Sorry. Come here." He hugged him tight. "I just can't believe this. What if we can't get home, Ianto?" both men suddenly realised they could hear Kitty and James talking quietly. They exchanged a startled look. They had been shouting, there was no way the other two hadn't heard…

"Oh shit." Ianto said. "They're going to think we're insane, aren't they?" the two of them went back out into the hall. Kitty and James were up the other end, as far away as they could get. They looked up as they walked in.

"Stay the hell away from us, yeah?" Kitty said, her voice shaking slightly. "You two are bloody nutters, you know that? You guys actually think you're Jack and Ianto from Torchwood, don't you?"

"We are." Jack said calmly. "Look, it's hard to explain. But we had just got back from Weevil hunting when the Rift opened, and…"

"We're calling the police."

"No! We need to find a way back!" Jack strode down the length of the hall, Ianto hurrying after him. The two young people shrunk back, as though afraid he might hurt them. James picked up a heavy metal cross and waved it threateningly. Jack let out a snort of laughter.

"What, you think I'm a vampire?"

"I'll hit you! I will, so just stay there!"

Jack kept walking. They were leaving this church before anyone called the police on them. "I said stay there!"

Kitty stood in front of the doors, trying to stop them leaving. "You're a danger to people! You're off your heads, both of you!"

"Get out of the way, Kitty." Jack said calmly.

The young girl was shaking like a leaf. "N-no!"

"Fine." Jack took off his coat, meaning to charge through one of the windows. This, as it turned out, was a mistake, as it meant that they could clearly see his gun. Kitty screamed. Jack looked down and realised his error, a little too late. He stepped forward and put his hand over her mouth, desperate not to attract attention. Clearly this was not his obvious intention, however, because James hit him on the side of the head with the cross. It was not a hard blow, but it was sufficient to make Jack lose his balance and fall. Breaking his neck on one of the chairs as he went. He hit the floor with a sickening _crack, _his head at an odd angle. The church fell deathly silent. Ianto stepped forward and checked his pulse.

"You've killed him! For fucks sake, you've fucking killed him!"

Kitty went white. "Oh my God, this cannot be happening. James is he dead?" the young man knelt down beside Jack and felt for a pulse. He went, if possible, even whiter.

"Yeah. He…he's dead. Oh my God, I killed someone." He was clearly in shock. Ianto didn't pay any attention. He didn't know how this world worked; if Jack would still be the same…he was terrified that his lover was really gone, really dead. He didn't want to be here on his own.

"What've you done?" Kitty whispered in horror.

"We need to get rid of the body, yeah? I can't go to jail, Kit, I just can't!"

"Umm, witness? We are not killing him, too."

"Oh God…" James looked like he was going to be sick. Ianto looked up suddenly.

"Why did you hit him? For Gods sake, we're just trying to get home; he wasn't going to hurt you…"

"He grabbed Kitty! Plus you guys are clearly fucking psychos, thinking you're…" he was interrupted by Kitty's sudden scream. Jack had just sat up, gasping, and grabbed Ianto's leg. He smiled down in relief.

"I was so afraid you weren't coming back!" he admitted. Jack smiled slightly, still gasping for air. Kitty and James both stared.

"But…but…you were _dead._ I checked." James said.

"I know. You killed me, remember? Thanks for that, by the way. Exactly what I needed." Jack said, sarcastically.

"But you were dead. And now you're not. You can't be alive. But..." Kitty looked in horror between Jack and the frozen image of 'Jack Harkness' on the projector screen.

Jack grinned. "Captain Jack Harkness at your service."

"And Ianto Jones. Pleased to meet you both." Ianto added.

"You can't be them. It's not real, none of it's real…"

"Oh? You meet many people who can't die?"

Kitty looked at him, shocked. "Oh my God…you're really them aren't you?"

"In the flesh. Now," Jack turned serious, "can you help us get home?"


	5. Chapter 5

Kitty was staring open mouthed at Jack and Ianto. "But…but you can't be here. There's no rift here, it's all made up! Oh my God, does that mean Russell T Davies is and alien? Like from your side?"

"Who?" Jack asked, turning to her.

"He's the guy that made Torchwood. The program, not the organisation. Oh my God, I can't believe I just said that! This is unreal!"

"Yeah, fabulous. Now if you don't mind, we kinda need to get back home."

This seemed to snap Kitty out of her reverie. "Right, yeah, of course. Look, we need to host this screening, ok, so James, could you take them back to the flat? Then come straight back here." James stared at her. "Oh for crying out loud, babe, it's Jack and Ianto! I think we can trust them. Oh, this is so _exciting_!"

"Sure babe. I'll be back as soon as I can, ok?" he leant forward and kissed her softly, then turned to the two men. "Ok guys, follow me."

* * *

"Nice place you've got here." Ianto said politely after James let them into the flat. This was not exactly true; it was small and dark, and somewhat cluttered. Jack could tell that Ianto was just itching to tidy up, and had to suppress a small smile.

"Yeah, whatever mate. Listen, one of us will be back soon, yeah?"

"Sure." Jack said, and James left the flat. "Nice kid." Jack said. "Not too crazy about the killing thing, but hey, we all got our quirks. Ianto, what are you doing?"

Ianto had booted up a laptop he had found buried under a pile of papers on the coffee table. "I'm going to check the internet. See what I can find out about the Rift, and about Torchwood." However, a few seconds later he thumped the table in annoyance. "Damn! They don't have the internet in here."

"Seriously? You sure it's just, I dunno, not plugged in or something?"  
"Maybe. Guess we'll have to wait for Kitty or James." Ianto went over and sat beside Jack on the sofa.

"Hey, Ianto, You don't suppose there is a Torchwood here, do you? I mean, it is supposed to be secret."

"Yeah…I think they might have put a kibosh on creating a television program about it if it was real, don't you?"

"Good point." Jack groaned and put his head in his hands. Ianto looked at him.

"Hey, Jack. Um, I'm glad you're here. You know, with me."

"I'm glad you're here too. This would just be way too weird on my own."

"No, I mean…before. Outside the Hub. You were nowhere near the Rift. You would have been ok. But you tried to get me. Why?"

Jack flushed slightly. "Well, I saw you were in danger. I tried to get you out."

"So you would have done it for any of the team?" Ianto looked slightly disappointed.

"No." Jack said, cupping the younger man's face in his hands. "I wanted to save you, Ianto Jones. Because I don't know what I'd do without you."

Ianto smiled. "Thank you, Jack."

"You're welcome." Jack whispered, and kissed him. after a second, Ianto began to kiss him back, his arms caressing his lover's back, his hair…jack reached down and started unbuttoning the younger mans shirt, placing soft kisses all over his torso. Ianto moaned in pleasure. It was just about to get really interesting when they heard a key in the door. They leapt apart quickly, Ianto doing up his shirt as Kitty walked in.

"Do I want to know what was just happening? She asked, shaking her head. Ianto turned bright red.

"We weren't expecting you back so soon." He muttered. Kitty laughed.

"So, you often do it in strangers' houses? Mind you, even this dump's gotta have more room than Jack's quarters at the Hub…"

Jack blinked at her. "Excuse me?! Exactly how much detail do you know about us?"

Kitty looked round, surprised. "Well, only what's been in the episodes really. And the novels, but I don't know how cannon they are." She paused. "Oh my God, you can tell me! I'm gonna be the only person in the world who knows if the novels are truly cannon or not! Awesome!"

"Ok…" said Jack, feeling slightly uneasy. This girls enthusiasm was way OTT, they were going to have to be careful if they wanted to remain undetected. "So, tell us about the episodes. And the books."

Kitty puffed out her cheeks and blew, thinking. Then she turned and rummaged through her shelves, extracting a DVD box. "Here. That's series one, and over there are the novels." She pointed to a table behind them. "Either of you guys want a coffee?"

"I'll make it if you like." Ianto offered. Kitty shrieked in delight.

"Oh my God, I get to try Ianto's coffee! Is it really that amazing?"

"Oh Kitty, Kitty, you haven't lived!" Jack exclaimed dramatically, winking at Ianto. The younger man shook his head, grinning, and followed Kitty out into the kitchen. Jack turned his attention back to the box in his hand.

* * *

"Hey, Kitty?" Jack said when she and Ianto returned with three steaming mugs of coffee.

"Yeah?" she took a sip from her mug. "Oh. My. God. You were not wrong about this coffee. This is amazing! How do you do that? I always use this stuff and mine never tastes this good!"

Ianto winked at her. "Trade secret."

"Anyway." Jack cut in, frowning slightly. "Kitty, that episode we saw before, its not on here, right?"

"Oh no, that's series two. I don't have that one here; I left it at my nana's by mistake."

"So, how far does it go?"

Kitty frowned. "Well, there's the one where you come back, with John Hart in. Then there's one with sleeper agents with weird sword arms. 'To the Last Man', you saw that one. 'Meat', where Rhys finds out. 'Adam', with that alien. 'Reset', when Martha comes…"

"Hold on, Adam? Who the hell is Adam? And what alien?" Jack looked at her, confused.

"Oh! Of course, you wouldn't remember! You ret conned yourselves! Hey, you want to watch it? I'm assuming he won't come back, I mean, it's a different universe, right?"

"Kitty, if I had any idea what you were talking about I'm sure I would agree. How can we watch it, anyway? I thought you didn't have the DVDs?"

"Well, internet." She pulled the laptop too her. "Hey, Ianto, could you switch it on? That switch over there by the wall."

"Told you it wasn't plugged in." Jack whispered as he passed. Ianto hit him good naturedly.

"Here we are!" Kitty said, and pressed play. The two men watched the episode, open mouthed. Jack shot Ianto a very uncomfortable look when the stuff about his dad and his past came up. He had never really spoken about it before. They both found geeky Owen very funny though. Then came the scene around the boardroom table.

"_I love him. But not like I love you, Jack."_ Ianto choked on his coffee in surprise and shot Jack an accusing look.

"Gwen loves you? What?"

"Ianto, it's news to me too. I don't remember this either!"

"Oh right, like you've never flirted with her! And anyway, bit desperate, isn't she? She's married and she's telling MY boyfriend she loves him! Who the hell does she think she is?!"

"Calm down, Ianto!" Jack said looking very alarmed.

"Calm down! How would you like it if Tosh told me she loved me?!"

Jack was about to protest, when he suddenly spotted the twinkle in Ianto's eye and realised his lover was teasing him. "Well, if Tosh told you, I don't think I'd mind. If it was Owen I might have something to say…"

Ianto's face broke into a grin. "And how do you know Owen hasn't told me that?"

Jack laughed. "You're not really mad at me, are you? I swear I didn't remember that…"

"Nah." Ianto glanced over at the screen. "Although I will be keeping a closer eye on Gwen from now on. Don't want you getting any ideas."

"Come on, as if I could be attracted to Gwen…"

"Oh, so you're not in love with her then?" both men turned to Kitty, surprised. "Coz, you know, it's a big theory, that you and Gwen have this whole 'unrequited love' thing going on."

"No!" Jack spluttered. "Gwen's a mate! That's all!"

Kitty grinned happily. "Oh good, coz I much prefer you and Ianto as a couple. You guys are so hot together!" Ianto wasn't entirely sure how to respond to that comment, and he didn't want to know about that sudden dark sparkle that had appeared in Jack's eye when she had said they were hot _together._ So he tried to change the subject.

"Anyway, what else is there? Episode-wise?"

"Umm, well, yeah, 'Reset', with Martha. Then 'Dead Man Walking', when Jack uses the resurrection glove and Death tries to kill 13 people. Then 'Day in the Death', where Owen talks to this suicidal woman about a mission at some old guy's house. Then Gwen's wedding. Umm…what next…oh yeah, 'From Out of the Rain', with the Electro cinema and that old circus film, then 'Adrift', when…"

"Wait, what was that last one?" Jack asked, frowning. "Something about rain?"

"Huh? Don't you know it?"

"Ianto! The Electro cinema, you know it?" the young man looked up.

"Sure. Used to go there all the time with my dad what I was a kid. it's got this grand reopening next week, I'm going with Gwen and Owen…or at least I was. Why?"

"Oh my God. It hasn't happened for you yet. You're still halfway through the second series!" Kitty's eyes widened. "You don't know…"

"Know what?"

Umm…well…I think you guys should prepare yourselves…"

* * *

**Sorry about taking so long to update. have had serious writers block with this story! i'm still not entirely over it, so i dont know when i'll next be able to update. anyway, i'm not sure how good this chapter is, so that's the reason :)**


	6. Chapter 6

Jack was still in shock. It had been over a week now since he and Ianto had fallen through the Rift, and now his whole world had been turned upside down. Tosh and Owen were dead. They were killed by Grey, who it turned out wasn't dead, but had gone slightly psycho killer. Jack wasn't sure how he felt about that. He also wasn't sure how he felt about himself being frozen in the morgue the whole time he'd been working for Torchwood. He would have to check that out when _…if…_ he got back.

"Jack? You ok?" Ianto came and sat down beside him, gazing worriedly at his lover.

"How can I possibly be ok, Ianto? You've seen the DVDs, you read the books. It's all true, it's all our lives. And look at what happens to Toshiko. Because of me. Because I let go of his hand…"

"Jack, stop it. It's not your fault. It might not even happen, anyway. We don't know that any of it will happen. Just because it all has so far. And even if it does, maybe we can change things…"

"But it's already happened, Ianto. At least, here it has…"

"HERE, is a parallel world. Nothing is set in stone, Jack. Nothing."

Jack was about to argue back, when James walked into the room. "Hey, you guys ok?"

"Sure." Jack said, grinning. Only Ianto knew the smile was fake, not even Gwen could tell the difference.

"Cool. Listen, I've been doing some more research into weird stuff around Cardiff, people going missing and shit like that. And let me tell you, guys, there aint much."

"But there is some?" Jack persisted.

"But not much more than in other places. Nothing to suggest that there actually is a Rift. Sorry, mate." He handed over his research to Jack for him to look at. "We'll keep at it though, don't worry. And besides, even if you guys don't get back, you could stay here!"

Much to Jack's amusement (and annoyance at times) Kitty and James were still in a state of shocked disbelief and delight at them being there. He was half expecting them to ask to come with them if they ever did find a way back. Which, Jack thought sourly, was going to be hard if there wasn't even a Rift on this side.

"But there has to be, Jack." Ianto pointed out when he voiced his concerns later that night. "If the Rift wasn't here, how did we get here?"

"I suppose." Jack sighed and buried his face in his pillow. "Aargh! I just wish we had some way of contacting the others, you know? I mean, Kitty and James are great don't get me wrong, but it's not the same. I never thought I'd say this but I miss Torchwood."

"Me too. I even miss Owen…" both men fell silent as they thought about the fate Owen had met. "I can't believe they're gone."

"Yeah. Poor Tosh…"

"It's not your fault Jack."

"I know." He sighed. Then he frowned slightly, a thought occurring to him. "Ianto, what would happen if we didn't go back?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, some of this stuff hasn't happened for us, right? But if we're not there, it can't happen. So what would happen?" they looked at each other, contemplating what Jack had just said. Could they save Owen and Toshiko by not going back? Or would they alter reality, causing destruction by changing what could not be changed?

"Jack, what are you suggesting?" Ianto asked, carefully.

"I…don't know. I mean, I want to go home, I do. But at the same time I want to save my friends…"

"We can save them once we're back." Ianto assured him. "Do you really want to find out what happens if we don't go?"

* * *

The next morning when Jack woke up, Ianto wasn't there. Puzzled, he got up and made his way into the living room, remembering just in time to grab a dressing gown to cover his modesty. Ianto was sitting in the dark, staring intently at the laptop screen.

"Yan?"

The younger man jumped slightly and looked around. "Jack! What are you doing up, its only 6am!" Jack checked the time.

"Bloody hell! I don't know. Anyway, what are you doing?" he squinted at the screen.

"I'm looking at James's research into disappearances."

"Ianto, we looked through all that stuff. It didn't help…"

"But I went back further. If you look closely, there's a pattern."

Jack was instantly alert. A pattern? "What do you mean?" he asked excitedly.

"Groups of weird instances. People disappearing, hearing voices, seeing things… all around the Hub area."

"The Rift?"

"Could be. If I'm right about this pattern, it opens slightly every 3 months…"

They stared at each other in silence. If Ianto was correct, which Jack thought he might be, then they had just found their way back home.


	7. Chapter 7

"I don't get why we have to do this stuff anyway." Kitty complained, flinging down the pieces of paper she had been studying. "You know when it comes, cant you just – I dunno – turn up?"

Jack looked at her. "Kitty, we need to know everything we can about the Rift on this side. If Ianto and I don't get through it could be another three months until we can get home again."

She frowned slightly. "Would that be so bad though? I mean, here there are no aliens or weevils or anything."

"I doubt that. You think if life evolved on other planets in my world it wouldn't have here? They just haven't found Earth yet, that's all. This place isn't home, Kitty. I've dealt with aliens my entire life, and that's a long time. Do you know how it feels to suddenly be stuck on earth with only humans? Now come on. According to Ianto's theory, we only have about 8 more weeks until the Rift turns up again."

"Fine, fine." She picked up the pages again, grumbling. Jack walked back into the bedroom where he had been talking to Ianto, who was now looking a little hurt.

"What's wrong with humans? I'm human."

"There's nothing wrong with humans Ianto, it's just…I don't know how to explain it. Before I got stuck here, back in 1869, I had never stayed in one place for long. Hell, one time I got stuck here for a month looking after some Neanderthal – don't ask – and that was hell just for a month. But working for Torchwood…it means I haven't let go, you know? I'm still…connected to that world. Beyond all the human things, the mundane… do you know what I'm saying?"

"I haven't got a clue, Jack, as always." The younger man grinned, and leaned his head on Jack's shoulder. Jack sighed and pressed his lips to Ianto's forehead.

"Well now. Seeing as how we've got Kitty and James doing all our dirty work for us, what say you and I try and explore a little more of alternate-Cardiff?"

"Shouldn't we, you know, help them?"

"Nah." Jack grinned at him. "There's not much more needs doing anyway. We'll tell them we're researching the area or something, it'll be ok. Come on, Yan, please? We haven't left the flat in, like, a month."

"Well Mr Harkness." Ianto smiled at him. "How can I say no to an invitation like that?"

* * *

"This is so weird." Jack remarked as they wandered through the city centre. "Everything's different here. Places aren't in the same place; I swear this is not so near the Hub in our world."

"Not everything is different." Ianto remarked as a group of young girls walked past, gazing at Jack and giggling. "You still seem to have a way with people."

"Well, maybe they think I'm John Barrowman." Jack pointed out. Ianto frowned and withdrew his hand from Jack's grasp. "What?"

"Jack, if people might mistake us fro the actors, do you really think we should be walking around holding hands…" he didn't get much further because at that moment they heard someone clearing their throat loudly behind them.

"Ahem!" they spun round to see Kitty gazing at them through her fringe, hands on her hips. "So, this is 'getting a scope of the area', is it?"

"Well, we are. Kind of. Maybe. Look, Kitty, we haven't been out in ages." Jack said pleadingly, pouting slightly. "And besides, what are you doing here? I though you were looking into Rift activity." He smiled at a passing young man who gave him a very strange look and hurried on. Kitty lowered her voice.

"Don't speak so loudly! You want to get carted off to the mental home? There is no 'Rift' here, remember? Anyway, I'm taking a break. I assume I am allowed one of those, right?"

Ianto sighed. "Kitty, we don't mean to boss you about. It's just; we do want to go home. And besides, if we miss it this time, how are we going to live here? It's not like we can go out and get jobs, is it? You already have to work extra shifts to feed us."

"I don't mind though! You guys being here is so genius! Anyway, since we're out-and-about, shouldn't we ACTUALLY check out the area?"

"I guess so." Jack shook his head at the look of excitement on Kitty's face.

"Well, that was a waste of time." Kitty remarked as they entered the flat a couple of hours later.

"For you, maybe. We need to find out everything we can." Jack told her.

"Which means I need to get back to work, right?"

"Exactly!" Jack flashed a winning grin at her and she sighed.

"And what are you two going to do in the meantime?"

"Going to check out those Torchwood DVDs again."

Kitty rolled her eyes at him. "And that helps because…?"

"That helps, Kitty, because we need to know those episodes off by heart. If we know how things went down maybe we can stop them."

Kitty gaped at him. "You mean you're…"

"Yep." Jack smiled at her. "We're going to save Toshiko and Owen."

"Can you do that?" Kitty frowned. "Wont it, like, bring in the Reapers?"

"I don't know. But I am willing to find out." Jack nodded grimly and headed towards the front room.


	8. Chapter 8

* * *

It was kind of nice, Jack conceded, to have so much free time. He couldn't even remember having a weekend off in the 120 odd years he had worked for Torchwood, and now he could do pretty much whatever he liked. Not that he wasn't looking forward to getting home, of course, but still…

"Jack? Are you awake?"

Jack rolled over and peered at Ianto through the darkness. He could just about make out the man lying next to him, he could see the vague light from the windows reflecting in his eyes. "What is it Yan?"

"Jack, I'm scared. It's only twelve hours until we try and go back through the Rift. What if it goes wrong?"

"Shh! Hey!" Jack pulled Ianto too him, hugging him tight. "It'll be ok, Ianto."

"I love you, Jack."

"Love you too." Jack paused. "Umm…Ianto?"

"Mmm?"

"Listen…these past couple of months with you, it's been great…I mean, away from the team and everything, I've been thinking…"

Ianto pulled away and looked at him. "Jack, what are you talking about?"

"You. Us. I guess back home, I've always been so distracted. But here I can think. I don't know what I would have done without you, Ianto."

"I know. I don't know what I would have done if you weren't here either." Ianto was puzzled. Why was Jack talking like this, and why did he seem so embarrassed?

"I want to be with you Ianto. Always. So…" he turned to look his partner straight in the eye. "Ianto Jones, will you marry me?"

Ianto stared at him, silent. The seconds stretched by and Jack began to feel uncomfortable. "Now would be a really good time for you to say something." He said, smiling hopefully.

"Why?" Ianto asked. Jack frowned, confused.

"Well, because usually when someone proposes they expect an answer of some sort…"

"No, I mean why ask? Is it because you actually want to marry me, or is it because you think there's a good chance I might die in the Rift and you'll never have to go through with it?"

"How can you ask me that, Ianto?"

"Because before we came here you were never going to propose, were you?"

"Ianto, I have no intention of letting you die in that Rift tomorrow. I asked you to marry me because I love you, and I want to spend the rest of my…the rest of your life with you."

Ianto remained silent.

"Of course, it's just an idea, I mean we don't have to do it right away, it's not like…"

"Yes."

"…we need to do it by tonight or any…what?"

Ianto laughed. "I said yes, Jack. Yes, I will marry you."

Jack gazed at him in shock for a second, then let out a strangled yell of delight and fell upon the younger man, kissing every part of him that he could reach.

* * *

"You guys ready?" asked Kitty a few hours later when everyone was up.

"As we'll ever be." Jack told her. "It's weird, we've been here for 3 months but this is the first time I've felt like I want the time to pass quicker."

"You'll regret that later when it's time to go." James teased. Kitty hit him on the arm. "James! Stop it, it's their last day here." She turned back to the other two men. "So, what are you gonna do today? Watch Torchwood again?"

"Hell no. I've watched those last few episodes so many times I think I could recite the scripts in my sleep." Jack stretched and looked at Ianto. "Actually, I was thinking we might check out a few jewellery stores."

"Jewellery stores? Why?"

"Well…" Jack smiled and took hold of Ianto's hand. "I need to buy Ianto a ring."

Kitty gazed at him uncomprehending for a few moments. Then the penny dropped and she shrieked, causing James to drop his toast in alarm.

"You mean you're…? Jack nodded. "Oh my God! Congratulations! This is so huge!"

"I know what you mean." Ianto smiled at her. "It's a shame you won't be able to come to the wedding." Kitty's face dropped slightly.

"Yeah. What with you being in a parallel world and all." She sighed, and then perked up again. "Oh well! I can still help you chose a ring!"

Jack rolled his eyes at Ianto. "Sure, you can come with us. We just need to keep an eye on the time, can't afford to be late tonight."

An hour later Kitty, Jack and Ianto headed off into town. James assured them he would love to come, but he had to work. Jack suspected it was more to do with the fact that Kitty looked so excited when she talked about engagement rings. A few years ago, Jack would have been just as terrified.

"Ooh, how about that one?" Kitty asked, pointing. Ianto looked at the ring in question.

"Kitty, it's beautiful, but it seems to have escaped your notice that I am in fact male. I might look a little strange with ladies' diamond engagement ring on my finger, don't you think?"

Kitty stuck her tongue out at him. "Spoilsport. I suppose you won't be wearing a wedding dress either?"

"Nope. I'll be wearing that." Jack told her, grinning. Ianto sniggered at the mental image of Jack in a big, white, puffy dress, and Jack gave him a mock hurt stare.

"I have you know I would look terrific in a wedding dress!"

"I'm sure you would sweetie." Kitty assured him patting his arm. "Now, let's keep looking…ooh! That one's gorgeous!" she went over to have a look at the ring that had caught her attention. Ianto rolled his eyes at Jack.

"You think I should have a sex change to make her happy? She does seem to want to buy me women's jewellery…" Jack laughed, and they went over to try and steer Kitty towards the men's wedding bands.

* * *

That night, they were all gathered round the 'Hub'.

"According to the research, it should happen sometime in the next few hours." Ianto whispered. He and Jack went and stood in the exact spot had arrived in. it seemed likely, given how small they suspected the Rift opening might be, that this could be the only spot that would be affected.

"What if this doesn't work, Jack?" Ianto whispered. "Most of the 'weird stuff' was about things coming through. What if it doesn't take us?"

"It will Ianto. It has to." Jack bit his lip, worried.

"You don't have to do this!" Kitty said. Both men looked at her. "The Rift is connected to so many different places! It was a one in a million chance you ended up here, who's to say you'll go home? You could end up somewhere terrible; go mad like those people on the Island."

Jack blanched. The thought had occurred to him, it was true, but he still didn't like thinking about it. "We have to go, Kitty. That's a chance we have to take. You should stand back; I don't want you getting pulled in as well."

He gripped Ianto's hand firmly. There was no way he was losing him in the Rift. Instinctively, he glanced up and saw a slight shimmer in the air. The Rift was opening. "Goodbye, Kitty. Bye James." He said smiling at them.

"Bye. We won't forget you, either of you."

"Goodbye." Said Ianto and almost felt relieved as he was pulled once again into the crushing black oblivion, Jack's hand still firmly clamped in his. It was too late to go back.


	9. Chapter 9

"Oh my God! They're over there!"

Jack heard the words being shouted, but he had no idea what they meant. The world was entirely black and seemed to be crushing down on him. He had no idea where he was or how he got there. Suddenly, he remembered how to breathe and the crushing sensation began to leave him. He opened his eyes and his vision swam as he tried to focus on his surroundings. He realised he was gripping onto something tightly, which was trying to make him let go, and looked down. He was holding onto someone's arm. And that someone was Ianto. Instantly, as though a cloud had lifted, all the memories and feelings returned to him. "Ianto…?"

The younger man was staring in shock at something over his shoulder. Jack turned and saw three figures running towards them. Three very familiar figures.

Owen was the first to reach the two men, and he bent down in front of Ianto. "Ianto? Mate, I need you to look at me, yeah? Can you focus…?" he stopped speaking when Ianto grabbed him in a sudden bear hug.

Gwen looked up at Owen's abrupt silence and saw Ianto hugging him. Owen, looking frankly terrified, patted him awkwardly on the back and mouthed 'Help Me' at Gwen. She would have found it funny if it wasn't so out of character for Ianto. What had happened? She turned to Jack to ask him, only to see he had a similar grip on Toshiko. Tears were running down his cheeks and he was clutching the startled young woman as though he would never let her go.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXx

Jack couldn't believe it. They were home, they were actually home! And Toshiko and Owen were still there…he had been hoping they would be, of course, but at the same time half of him had expected it to be a year since they had died, following the same timeline as 'Kitty's world'. The second he had laid eyes on Toshiko, it was as if his heart had stopped. He looked at her face and all he could see was the image of her lying bleeding, dieing, in his arms. He grabbed her into a hug, partly so he wouldn't have to look at her, and partly so he could feel her solid form, her chest moving as she breathed, her heart beat…_alive, so alive…_ Jack could feel himself crying but he didn't care. All he cared about was keeping Toshiko close to him, keeping her safe, keeping her alive… He could see out of the corner of his eye that Ianto was hugging a scared looking Owen in the same manner.

"Ianto…" Owen struggled to release himself but Ianto's grip was evidently too tight. "Ianto, if you bust one of my ribs it won't heal remember, and then I will be seriously pissed." Ianto let go suddenly, in the manner of a small boy who had just been told his favourite toy would break if he played with it too much. He continued to gaze at Owen, his face stained with tears. Owen looked very relieved that Ianto had let go of him, but also puzzled as to why he had been grabbed in the first place.

"Jack, if you're not careful you're going to suffocate Toshiko and she'll die…" Owen began, jokily, and then stepped back in shock as Jack released the young woman and quickly turned to face him, anger and anguish in his eyes.

"Don't…Don't say…" the American paused. He couldn't say anything, couldn't let them know…the anger drained suddenly out of his face and he breathed in deeply. "How long were we gone?" he asked, turning to Gwen.

"Exactly 24 hours. What happened to you guys? We thought we would never see you again…" Jack realised that Gwen was close to tears and gave her a hug, realising how strange it must look that neither he nor Ianto had done so until now. He couldn't help it though. It wasn't that he wasn't glad to see Gwen; it was just that he knew she would be ok, which made it hard for him to feel the same way at seeing her as he did Owen and Tosh. He hadn't had to watch her die.

"What did happen, Jack?" Toshiko asked. He turned to face her and again was instantly reminded of her bleeding in his arms. He shook his head, averting his gaze, and caught Ianto's eye. At that moment he didn't care what happened afterwards. He was going to save Owen and Toshiko.

* * *

Sometimes it was fun having knowledge that the others didn't. Like when Gwen and Owen had been bickering about Rhys and Gwen had responded to one of his taunts with "I love him." Ianto had leaned over to Jack and whispered in his ear, in a high falsetto voice, "but not like I love you, Jack". Jack had snorted with laughter and then, when they caught Gwen's eye, neither he nor Ianto had been able to stop laughing for about 5 minutes.

Or when Jack had managed to convince Owen he was psychic by giving him details and quotes from events he wasn't even present at. He was seriously freaked out; Ianto had seen him checking his apartment for bugs when he thought no-one was looking.

Most of the time though, it was horrible. When Toshiko started talking happily about the future, or when Owen would joke about wishing he would just die permanently. These were the moments when Jack and Ianto would look at each other in despair, knowing that none of their friends had any idea what was coming. Then came the night of the Electro Cinema re-opening. And the events of 'From Out of the Rain'.


	10. Chapter 10

"What're we going to do, Jack?" Ianto asked softly. "I'm supposed to be meeting Gwen and Owen in 15 minutes to go to the Electro." He sighed. "I used to love that old cinema you know, Jack. This would be a lot more fun if I didn't know what was coming."

"Wouldn't most things?" Jack asked absently. Truth was, he had no idea what they should do. They couldn't let the team know what they knew, that would just scare Tosh and Owen, and if they couldn't stop their deaths…No. Jack couldn't do that to them. "You go. Act normal, do the same things, etc. try to stick to the script."

Ianto felt seriously strange as he made his way down the street towards the old cinema, listening to Gwen and Owen's happy banter. A small part of him was thrilled, feeling the old excitement he used to feel when he came down here on Saturdays with his dad. A bigger part of him felt scared and strangely guilty, a feeling that increased when he was greeted by the man who owned the cinema. Ianto wanted to scream at him to run, to not open the cinema, to destroy the reel else he would die. But he knew he couldn't, Jack wanted him to follow the script as best he could. But could he do that, Ianto wondered? If he saw that young family, or walked past that girl, could he really leave it alone and not tell them? He didn't think that he could.

Ianto fidgeted restlessly, waiting for the film to start. When it did he stared silently at the screen, watching the throng of people outside the cinema, just waiting for the picture to change to the circus. "And…now." He muttered under his breath. He saw Owen look at him strangely out of the corner of his eye, but then the picture changed. Owen and Gwen began to laugh, crack jokes, but Ianto couldn't join in, he felt his stomach clench slightly when the Ghostmaker or Pearl appeared on the screen. Almost subconsciously, he began to mutter the name of each act a second before they appeared on screen. He only stopped when Owen poked him in the ribs and asked worriedly if he was psychic. "It's on a loop" he pointed out. Owen seemed to accept this, even though the loop had only played once before. How could Ianto have seen it before?

"Right, come on let's go." Said Owen, getting tired of watching the endless loop of circus performers.

"Wait! There's Jack!" Ianto said suddenly, and the next second the man himself appeared on the screen. Gwen threw Ianto a puzzled look. She had been watching the film and she was sure Ianto had announced that before he actually saw him. She gazed at 'Jack' absently. If it was their boss, he certainly looked good in his costume…

"Gwen Williams, you are a married woman!" she admonished herself, shaking her head.

Then the film switched off. Someone had stopped the reel. "Right, come, on let's go." Said Owen standing up.

"Yes." Gwen followed him. Ianto remained where he was, staring at the screen, hoping desperately that it wasn't the same, that they wouldn't come…fear leapt into his throat as he saw the shadows pass him. It had begun.

* * *

Within a few minutes Jack had arrived. The two of them stood in the auditorium. Ianto knew this was the part where he and Jack were supposed to discuss the shadows, but he couldn't do it. He didn't want to stick to the script.

"What do we do now?" he asked.

Jack sighed, ran a hand down his face. "I don't know, Ianto. What can we do? It's not as if we…" suddenly he cursed. "The girl!"

"What?"

"It's now, Ianto! That girl at the bus stop! We have to get to her, come on!" the two men set off running, ignoring the astonished looks on Gwen and Owen's faces as they ran past. "Gwen! Owen! Go upstairs, interview the kid, take the film. Meet us back at the Hub!"

"What the hell was that about?" Gwen wondered. Owen shrugged, and the two of them went up to the projector room.

* * *

"Hey!" Jack yelled as they neared the bus stop. "Hey!" but he could see he was already too late. The two figures that were standing turned to look at him, and then vanished off into the night. As they got closer, Jack could see the young woman's ruined face, all dry and vein-y, the eyes blank and staring. "SHIT!" he yelled, kicking the wall. "Shit! We were too late!"

"Jack?" Toshiko's voice came through on the comm. "Jack, the equipment is behaving very strangely here. And I heard that noise you said about. That fairground music?"

"Yeah, I know. Rift spike at Electro, then again at that bus stop by Hope Street. Ianto and I are already there. It's a girl and we…" he broke off. "Ianto! I'll get her to hospital, you go try and get to that woman in the café!"

"Yes sir." Said Ianto, and set off running.

"Toshiko, get a hold of Gwen and Owen. Tell them to meet us at the hospital."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

10 minutes later, Owen was standing beside the girl's bed, explaining to Jack who she was and what was wrong. Jack wasn't really listening; he knew all this stuff after all. He just listened enough to make the right responses at the right time. He was waiting for Ianto, waiting to see if he-

Suddenly a cart crashed through the door, followed by Ianto. "We've got another one." He said, unable to meet Jack's eye.

Owen bent down and examined the new victim. "Same." He announced. "Heart beat, no breath, and her mouth's been drained of moisture."

"Come on." Jack said suddenly. "Let's get back to the Hub."

They made their way down the hospital corridors, talking about what was going on. It felt very strange to Jack, having a conversation and knowing exactly what was going to be said. He and Ianto didn't sound very convincing, as though they were reading from a script (which in a sense they were), but Gwen and Owen didn't seem to notice.

Later, back at the Hub, they all sat down and watched the film reel, Toshiko gasping as Jack came on the screen.

"You did stand up?" Gwen asked.

"I never did stand up."

"Ok, a song and dayance." Gwen said, smiling.

"I was sensational!" Jack sighed inwardly. He didn't like this; it reminded him of when he was stuck in that time loop, knowing what was going to happen every day.

"He was part of that freak show." Owen commented.

"Some things never change."

"You being rude about me?"

They watched a little more, and then the image of the night travellers appeared on the screen. Jack caught his breath. He had been expecting it, of course, but it still made his heart stand still slightly. He could remember when he was with the circus, how terrifying the stories had been. "The night travellers." He breathed.

"What?"

Jack sighed, and then launched into his monologue of whom the night travellers had been, leaving the room and being followed by Gwen and Owen.

Ianto puffed out his cheeks. "Tosh, could you run this frame by frame?" he asked.

"Sure." Ianto didn't see why he had to do this; after all he knew what he would find. But Jack had insisted.

* * *

"Jack!" Ianto called "this film, it's not the same one we saw at the cinema."

"Of course it's the same one!" Gwen exclaimed.

"No, things are different. Tosh?"

Toshiko pressed play and they all watched the grainy black and white images on the screen. "There! There was a woman in front of that water tank."

"Yeah there was, Ianto. You're right." Gwen said slowly.

"I remember her. Wearing almost nothing." Owen put in. Gwen gave him a look.

"And there! There was a man in like a top hat!"

"That's right. He was reaching down to the audience." Owen said thoughtfully.

"Are you sure we brought the right can of film back?" asked Gwen.

"Positive."

Jack explained that they had escaped the film when the film had been played, trying to stick to the same dialogue from the episode.

He sent Gwen and Owen to check the parish records, told Toshiko to try and find signals. "Ianto, with me, I need your local knowledge."

"Oh." said Gwen. "Is that what they're calling it these days?"

Jack felt a small smile playing about his lips. He had always loved that line.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"So." Said Ianto, once they were finally alone. "What now?"

"Now we wait. We do the research we already know, we act surprised at what the others come up with." Jack checked his watch. "They'll be taking the family now." He said sadly.

"Shouldn't we try and stop them?" Ianto asked.

"No. we tried that. No, I think our best bet is to get the bottle before it all goes wrong."

"That's very risky Jack."

"It's our only choice. We can't possibly explain to the others how we know what we do."

Ianto shivered. "I just can't believe how creepy this feels. Its one thing to watch it on the telly, but it's so different when you're actually living it. I don't know if I can do this, Jack."

"You can, Ianto. I know you can. We are going to get through this; we are going to save those people. And then we are going to save Owen and Toshiko and they will be bridesmaids at our wedding. It will all be perfect." Jack sighed. "You're stronger than you think, Ianto. Trust me on that."

Ianto smiled. "Hmm, Owen as a bridesmaid. Now that would really make my day!"

Jack grinned back at him. "Come on. Let's go talk to the others. They'll have found the 'sea' by now."

"Yeah. This is so weird Jack. Knowing what they're going to say, knowing what they're doing when we're not in the room."

"I know Yan, I know. But hey, it's not for much longer." Jack grinned again.

"You forget I can tell when they're false, Jack." Ianto said softly.

Jack let the grin slide off his face. "Yeah. I just wish things could be different, you know?"

"Yeah. Come on, let's go find the others."

* * *

A few hours later, Jack and Ianto found themselves back outside the hospital. They were neither of them looking forward to seeing the two children in their comatose state, but they knew they had to go, else how could they explain knowing about Providence Park and their 'witness'? So they went to see them, spoke to the nurse, went and found Christina at the psychiatric hospital. Jack liked the old woman on sight, she seemed so kind. He felt sad that her whole life had been ruined by the night travellers. She was probably perfectly sane when she was first committed. The conversation with the old woman went in exactly the same way as before, only Jack had not been prepared for the strong emotions he felt. The look in her eyes was so…haunting. He felt angry and scared on her behalf. She did not deserve the life they had made her live.

"…people went missing from the village that night. My mother. My father…" Jack put his hand reassuringly on her arm and she blinked at him. "I'd like to go back inside now please." She said quietly. Jack exchanged a look with Ianto, and saw that the younger man's eyes were filled with tears.

"That was horrible." Ianto muttered as they sat in the SUV five minutes later. "Just horrible. I didn't think it would be like that, but it seems so different to how it did in the program. More real."

Jack didn't bother to point out that the program wasn't real; he knew exactly what Ianto meant. "We need to get back to the Hub." He said eventually. "Gwen and Owen need to present their findings."

Ianto gazed at the screen as Gwen talked, letting her words wash over him. he had no idea what she was saying, his mind was elsewhere, in that little room where the 'lost souls' stood, kept by the Ghostmaker. He had to save them. No-one deserved that. Ianto wondered if the people were conscious, if they knew what had been done to them. He hoped not. He couldn't imagine the pain and terror they must be feeling if they did. He tuned back in as Owen started talking.

"Insisted that his dead wife could be brought back to life provided that a certain flask could be found. He reckoned her last breath had been put in a flask."

"The silver flask."

"And the last breathe of his victim."

"So that's how he makes his ghosts!"

"So if we find the flask…" Gwen began, looking thoughtful.

"We can save them." Jack caught Ianto's eye and held his gaze. _We can save them. We have to save them._

He took Ianto off to one side. "Come on. We need to get going, get round to that kid's flat. If we can catch him then, before he releases any of the others, we can get the flask."

However, this plan didn't quite work as the call came through when they were driving the SUV. Jack groaned. "Damn. I was so hoping this wouldn't happen. Maybe we'll still get there in time to catch them."

"Maybe." Ianto stared out of the window, not allowing himself to think of the possibility that they might not save them after all. This was all going wrong. They got to the flat and looked around, guns raised, hopeful that the two night travellers would still be there. After a three minute search, Jack was forced to admit that they'd gone. "Come on Ianto." He said softly. "We need to get to the cinema, now!" he pressed his comm. button. "Gwen, Owen? Meet us at the electro." He turned to the frightened young man in front of him. "stay here."

"No way. Look, what's going on? I need to find my mam and dad!" Ianto looked at Jack, who nodded, then turned to find the video camera he knew would be there.

"They were on this film for 80 years." He explained to no-one in particular. "They became part of it. What if we film them?"

"A film of a film?"

"And then they'd be trapped."

"Jack?" Gwen's voice came through. "We're at the Electro. Something's happening inside."

"Lets go." Said Jack, and set off running. He knew that time was running out. When they got to the cinema, they found Gwen and Owen waiting outside. Without pausing for explanation, Jack grabbed the keys from the young man and let them in, pausing to examine the two bodies in the chairs, just in case they hadn't been got. No such luck, they both sat staring and vacant. Jack turned his eyes away from the scene and looked up at the stage. Where were they? Suddenly the curtains opened.

"Get him out of here. Owen, find out who's upstairs!" he and Ianto stared in horror as the film began to play, and the strong-man stepped out. Jack lifted his camera and began to record, as more performers stepped through the screen.

"This city belongs to us!" pearl exclaimed, before noticing Jack and Ianto. As they backed out of the auditorium they saw the Ghostmaker.

"The flask! He's got it!" Gwen made a grab for the silver object, but was flung away. Ianto grabbed it and ran as fast as he could. Maybe he could get away? He had them. These people's lives were in his hand. Literally.

Ianto ran, his chest burning, hearing his feet slapping the concrete. He turned a corner and realised with horror he was in the small courtyard from the episode. Which meant…

He screamed as someone grabbed his arm, making an electric bolt of pain shoot through his shoulder. He felt the flask tugged from his grip. "No!" he yelled, and tried to grab it back, but it was too late. He saw Jack point the camera, and then the Ghostmaker pulled the stopper out of the flask and threw it. Ianto froze in horror. They had failed. Still he had to get it, had to save the little boy… he ran forward and jumped, snatching the flask out of the air as Jack exposed the film, causing the characters to disappear.

"Ianto, quick or we could lose them forever!" Ianto clapped his hand over the top of the bottle, feeling tears slide down his cheeks. They had failed. People had still died.

* * *

"There was nothing we could do. They all died so suddenly!" the nurse explained. Jack hung his head.

"All of them?" Gwen asked.

"All except this poor little soul." The nurse said, leading them into the small boy's room. "And his father." Gwen closed her eyes in horror. All of them dead accept two. She felt tears in her eyes. What was that boy's life going to be like now? And then Jack went mad.

"His father?" he croaked, staring at the nurse. "There were two who survived?" she looked confused.

"Well yes, I…"

Suddenly Jack gave a whoop of laughter, grabbing Ianto and swinging him round. "We save two, Ianto! Two! We did it!"

"Jack, please!" Gwen was appalled. "A lot of people have died!"

Jack tried unsuccessfully to suppress a huge grin, still clutching onto Ianto. "Yeah, but two didn't!"

"You know, sometimes Jack, it's inappropriate to look at the silver lining." Gwen told him, shaking her head.

* * *

"We did it, Ianto. We saved them." it was the following morning and none of the others were in yet. Ianto had spent the night destroying all the rolls of film in the cinema's basement, and Jack had tried to explain to the father and his child what had happened to their family. It had been heartbreaking, seeing the other man's grief. But a small part of Jack swelled with joy that he was alive to feel that grief in the first place.

"We couldn't save all of them." Ianto pointed out.

"That's not he point. We saved one of them that wasn't saved before, and I don't see any reapers do you? This proves it Ianto. This proves we can change events."


	11. Chapter 11

Jack sighed inwardly as he watched Gwen staring out to sea, lost in her own thoughts. He had just let her see Jonah, and he could tell how affected she'd been. She'd been furious with him. Ianto had thought it was a bad idea, but Jack knew that Gwen wouldn't give up. So he had made Ianto leave the GPS device on her desk, like before. Some things you shouldn't change. They had managed to avoid the embarrassment of her walking in on them having sex though, for which Jack was glad. Watching it from a third person perspective had been cringe-worthy enough. He walked over and sat down next to her. She glanced at him briefly, and then returned to gazing out over the water.

"When I took over Torchwood, there were two just like Jonah. Ravaged from falling through the rift. Being kept in the vaults. Neglected." He looked over at her and saw to his relief she was watching him. "I wanted them looked after. I set this place up. Told the staff these were experiments that had gone wrong."

"How many are there?"

"17 last count." He said regretfully. Gwen gasped in disgust and looked away from him again. "It's increased over the last year. Like the Rift is trying to correct its mistakes."

"But not all the missing return."

"No."

"You can't keep them hidden; they have families who deserve to know."

"Gwen. They're sick. In ways you could _never _imagine. We can't fix them. We just care for them."

Gwen looked him in the eye for a few seconds. "Jonah's asked me to bring Nikki here."

"No."

"She has a right to know."

"No way."

"She said not knowing was the hardest part!"

"Gwen! Listen to me. How are you going to explain to her that her child has aged 40 years in the last seven months, that he's scarred, that he cannot look after himself…"

"We don't have the right to hide it from her!"

"Do we have the right to tell her?! Gwen you don't know the whole story…"

"So tell me."

Jack looked at her, unsure of how much he should say. "Gwen, you saw Jonah in the good stage. It's very brief, lasts four hours a day at most."

"So what's the bad stage like?"

Jack swallowed, his memory plagued by that terrible screaming… "Horrible. He screams, Gwen. He screams for 20 hours a day." He closed his eyes. "Before the rift brought him back, he looked into the heart of a dark star. And it drove him mad."

"We still have to tell her Jack, it's her son…"

"Would you want to know?"

"I'm sorry?!"

"Would you want to know? If it was Rhys that went missing and he turned up disfigured and mad, spending most of his life screaming in mental agony. Would you want to know?"

"Yes I would!"

"Why?"

"Because I love him!"

"So why would you want to know he was in pain?"

Gwen froze, staring at him. He could almost see the thought working its way through her brain.

"Gwen, Nikki has no idea where her son is. She knows nothing. Surely that's better than knowing the mental torture he has to endure? At the moment she has hope, Gwen. She can think of Jonah and see him playing with his mates, or laughing, or eating food. Bring her here and the only thing she'll remember is the person she loves most in this world aged, scarred and broken. Do we have the right to do that to her?"

Gwen remained silent, staring back over the water. "Do the healthy ones ever come back? Like you and Ianto?" she asked finally.

Jack sighed. "Not that I've seen. If anyone's ever come back through unharmed, they've kept it quiet."

Gwen nodded. "What should I do, Jack?"

"Do what you think is right." He told her, and left.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

That night, he saw that all the case files and notes on the missing people were taken down. And Nikki was still oblivious to the whereabouts of her son.

* * *

"When will it be, do you think?" asked Ianto, lifting his head from Jack's chest and looking at him."

"Hmm?" Jack said sleepily, playing with Ianto's hair.

"The explosion. John's little trick."

"I don't know, Ianto. I guess we'll just have to wait until Tosh picks up those readings…"

"I'm so nervous Jack. What if it all goes wrong?"

"It wont." Jack said, finally. He slid down the bed until he and Ianto were face to face. "It wont." He said again, softly, and pulled Ianto into a kiss.

* * *

It was almost a week later that it finally did happen, although they didn't realise at first.

"Jack!" Toshiko called. "I'm picking up some readings. We've got about four or five life-signs in an old abandoned building. Definitely not human."

"Ok, let's go. Ianto, you call Gwen, get her to meet us there."

15 minutes later, they were getting out of the SUV, weapons ready. Ianto couldn't get a hold of Gwen, so he left a message on her machine.

"Sure they're not weevils?" Owen asked.

"No, different energy patterns." Toshiko replied. "I can't make sense of it. Definitely not a species we've encountered before."

"Well, let's hope they're friendly then."

"Owen, Ianto, you take the other side of the building. Toshiko, with me."

Owen began to head off, but Ianto paused. "No, Jack!"

"Excuse me?!"

"I said no." Ianto looked at him pointedly. "Doesn't this all seem a little…strange?"

Jack gasped suddenly as he realised what Ianto meant. It was here, it was now! And he had been about to send his friends into the heart of the explosions!

"Owen! Tosh! Get back here, and stay here!"

"But Jack, the life signs…"

"Give it 15 minutes. If nothing happens, we can go in."

"But Jack…"

"Damnit, Tosh, I said give it 15 minutes!" Jack roared, causing her to step back in alarm. Owen put a protective arm around her shoulder.

"Watch it, Harkness. Toshiko's right, we can't just stay out here and do nothing; they could have gone in 15 minutes."

"Owen, I am your commanding officer and you will do what I say!" Jack told him. Owen held his gaze for 30 seconds, and then his eyes dropped slightly.

"Yes, _sir._" He said, the sneer evident in his voice. Jack looked helplessly at Ianto, who shrugged. It broke his heart to yell at Owen when he knew what might happen to him, but he couldn't let them go in that building. After all, if he and Ianto could change how things were meant to happen, who's to say they couldn't change themselves? Maybe this time he wouldn't be the only one to die in the blast.

10 minutes later, Jack was starting to feel tense. So far nothing had exploded, and Owen kept shooting him filthy looks and sighing loudly. What if he was wrong? What if these really were aliens, and he let them escape into Cardiff because he didn't realise?

"Ok, Owen. Let's go in. you and Ianto take that side, Tosh and I will…"

**BOOM!!**

They were all thrown backwards from the force of the explosion, debris raining down on them. When it had cleared Jack looked up, checking his team for injuries. Tosh had a slight gash to her forehead, but other than that everyone seemed fine. Then Jack realised that Owen was staring at him in undisguised horror.

"Did you know that was going to happen?" he asked.

"Owen, I..."

"How the FUCK did you know that would happen Jack?!"

"Owen, calm down…" Ianto began in alarm.

"No I will not fucking calm down! Somehow, he knew there were explosive devices in there, he _knew. _And I want to know how."

Jack swallowed and glanced at Ianto. There was no way he was going to get out of this one. "Ok. The truth is…" he was suddenly interrupted by Gwen's car screeching to a halt behind them, and her and Rhys jumping out, concern written on their faces. Gwen's expression turned to one of incredible relief at the sight of them, and she launched herself at Jack, hugging him tight.

"Oh my God!" she said when she finally released him. "Oh my God, I saw the explosion happen. I thought you were inside. I thought I'd lost you all…" she trailed off, grinning at them all. Jack was grateful for the interruption, but he could see Owen was beginning to look at him again, and decided he needed to change the subject.

"Ok, we need to go inside; check there really weren't any aliens in there. Everyone meet back here in ten minutes. Ianto, you come with me. Owen, Toshiko, you take that side. Gwen, you stay here and watch Rhys.

"I'm not a bloody child!" Rhys protested. Jack sighed, remembering how much he'd helped in the televised explosion. "Ok, you two check out the building as well. Ten minutes remember, people!"

"Why are we in here again?" asked Ianto as they made their way through the rubble. "We know we won't find anything."

"Maybe so, but we need to still be here when John contacts us." Jack responded. He stopped and looked around, checking none of the others were nearby. Then he stepped forward and pulled Ianto into a heart-stopping, earth-moving kiss. When the two men finally broke apart they were both panting for breath.

"Fuck, Jack! I nearly fainted!" Ianto gasped. Jack grinned.

"I do often have that effect on people." He admitted. Ianto whacked him playfully on the arm. "Anyway, now that we're alone, I thought we might go over some wedding ideas." Ianto smiled in spite of himself, and fingered the ring he wore on a chain round his neck. They had decided not to let the others know until after they had saved Owen and Tosh.

"So, what ideas did you have in mind…?" he asked. Jack grinned.

"Well…"

* * *

Ten minutes later, they emerged from the building to see the others were already waiting for them. "Anything?" Jack called out.

"Nada. Whatever was in there must have been killed by the explosion."

Jack nodded, and started to walk back towards the SUV, before remembering it wasn't going to be there. Then his wrist strap beeped. He pushed the button, and the holographic image of John Hart appeared before them.

"Jack, what does he want?" Gwen asked horrified. John began to talk.

"Oooh, deja-vu! Or did I say that already. Hey, team… 'Course there might be a few less of you by now. Don't know if you liked my little gift. 'Course, you can't die." He sighed, as though hurt. "You've got all that life. All that time. And you can't spare any for me. Oh! Say hi to the family." John pushed the button on his own wrist strap and another hologram appeared beside him. Jack knew what was coming, but he still felt so many emotions as he gazed upon the face of his brother. Anger, fear, love, hope…

"Been a while since you've seen your brother, hey Jack? The other image said.

"Gray…" Jack whispered.

"Ok, here's what's going to happen." John said. "Everything you love. Everything you treasure. Will die. I'm gonna tear your world apart, captain Jack Harkness. Piece by piece. Starting now. Maybe now you'll want to spend some time with me."

"John, I…" Jack began, but the hologram faded.

"Jack?" Gwen said tentatively.

"Leave it, Gwen." Jack said, fighting back tears. He was still reeling at having seen Gray, a part of him still hoping his sweet little brother had not become a psychopathic killer. "Let's get back to the Hub."


	12. Chapter 12

All six of them headed back towards Rhys' car.

"Bastard John's taken our SUV!" grumbled Owen.

"He's driven it back to Torchwood." Ianto informed him, looking at his handheld computer.

Toshiko looked at her own computer. "I'm getting readings of rift activity all over the city. Major rift flares at St Helen's Hospital, the Police Headquarters and the Central IT Server Station."

At that moment, Gwen's phone rang. Jack listened to her answer it, imagining in his head the other side of the conversation.

"Hey, Andy?... OK, I'm on my way, all right?" she hung up and turned to look at Jack. "This is him, isn't it? This Captain John or whatever he likes to call himself."

"Rhys, drop Owen at the hospital. Tosh, Ianto cover the central server building. Gwen, the police station. Then take me to Torchwood." Jack motioned Ianto into the car.

"Jack, these are traps." Toshiko protested.

"So be careful. You know what he's capable of."

"What about you?" Gwen asked.

"I'm gonna go reason with him! I was the only one who could ever control him. That's why the Time Agency partnered us."

"Time agency? Don't tell me that's in Cardiff too?" Rhys sounded horrified. Jack raised his eyebrows and flashed him a grin.

"Whys he doing this Jack? What does he want?"

Jack ignored Owen, just stared out the window. He knew this next part was going to be difficult. Ianto squeezed his hand reassuringly, and Jack glanced at him, giving him a small smile.

* * *

Jack breathed in sharply as the cog door rolled open. He could already hear the sounds of 'I Lost my heart to a starship trooper". He really didn't want to see John again, but a part of him did feel sorry for the man. Whatever he might have done (or be about to do), he really did seem to love Jack.

He looked up at the upper level, where john was waving a scarf. "Come on! Sing along! It's our song!"

Jack almost smiled. "We don't have a song. And if we did have a song, it wouldn't be **this** song."

"You're no fun!" john flipped open his wrist strap and stopped the music.  
"Thank you."

"I've been here quite a while, what kept you?"

"We all survived, John."  
"Oh, them, they were just prototypes, had to test out a theory. How are they all, the little team?"  
"I know why you're doing this John."

John sneered at him. "I seriously doubt that."

"Oh, so Gray hasn't bonded an explosive device to your arm, then?"

John gaped at him. "H-how did you know about that?"

"How I know is not important. The fact is that I do know. And I want you to do it."

"Huh?"

"You have to do it, John. I know you do. So open the Rift."

John blinked at him, clearly expecting some sort of punch line or trap. "You…you want me to open the Rift?"

"Yes. Do whatever you were told to do. I won't stop you."

John and Jack finally reached the roof of the castle. He glanced across at Jack, who nodded. "Attention... Torchwood employees! Evening all! Now, stop what you're doing."

"Jack, what's going on, are you OK?"

"Jack can't come to the comms right now. But if you leave a message, I'll be sure and pass it along."

"What've you done to him?" Gwen demanded.

Ianto interrupted. "John, put Jack on!"

"Eye Candy! That was so masterful, so bossy, so basically powerless. Get up to the roofs of your buildings. Quickly now, spit spot."

"John, you don't have to do this!" Ianto yelled as he ran towards the roof.

"Yes. I do."

"Why do you want us to go on the roof?" asked Owen.

"'Cos if you don't,' you'll miss all the fun. Hold on a minute, do I mean fun or do I mean carnage? 'I get them confused.' Are you running yet? 'No dawdling now!'  
John switched off the comm link and looked across at Jack. "I don't want to do this you know."

"I know."

John switched the comm back on. "Now...Cardiff! Isn't it pretty? Doesn't it twinkle so? Take a good look. Remember this... because it all goes so quick."  
At that moment, over a dozen explosions sounded across the city. Jack closed his eyes, trying not to think of all the people who had just been hurt or killed. He kept telling himself that the only people he had to save were Owen and Tosh. Just because he could change things, didn't mean he had the right to change everything.

Then the Rift opened behind John, glowing gold against the nights sky. John grabbed Jack, pulling him in.

* * *

"John! John, answer me! Where's Jack?!" Ianto yelled into his earpiece, desperately hoping for a reply. He got nothing but static, which could only mean that Jack had been taken to Cardiff 27AD. Ianto had never really discussed how they were going to change things with Jack, but he had sort of assumed the older man wouldn't allow himself to get buried. He suddenly realised he could here Gwen talking.

"Tosh, Ianto, Owen...are you OK?"  
"Yeah, we're fine."  
"Still here." Ianto managed to mutter.  
"Me too."  
"Good, OK, good. Tosh, do we have the scale of the damage on the city?"  
Ianto heard Toshiko answer Gwen as they ran towards the central system control panel. He knew exactly what he would see there, he didn't need to listen to Tosh explain it all to Gwen. He still felt sick to the stomach at the thought that Jack was about 2000 years in the past. He glanced at the readings and sighed. It was still all following the storyline. "Not wanting to be the harbinger of doom but the systems which serve the Turnmill nuclear plant have all gone off-line."  
Gwen groaned softly. "Right, Tosh, Ianto, you have to stabilize the nuclear power station', make that a priority. Owen, what's it like at the hospital?"  
"Lost all power. The backup generators gave out in the blast. Every single machine in this hospital is down. It's a disaster."  
"OK, all of you, listen to me. We're gonna fix this, we're gonna put this city back together, we're gonna find Jack and we're gonna punish John. Now, I need you to be careful. OK?"

Ianto nodded, forgetting she couldn't see him. He just hoped he caught up with John before any of the others did.

* * *

Jack sat up and looked around. He was in a wide open space, surrounded by trees. Exactly where he expected to be then. Then he saw John walking towards him out of the trees. "We're safe."

"No, we're not. He's here, John."

"What?"

"Look over my shoulder."

John peered over the other man's shoulder and gasped. "How did you…?"

"Jack?"

Jack felt his heart leap. He hadn't seen his brother for over 200 years, and despite what he had become, Jack still loved him. "Gray…"

"I never stopped believing. I always knew we'd find each other again."

He threw his arms around Jack, who was unable to stop himself returning the hug. He knew what was about to happen, but for now he didn't care. He had his brother back, and for a few seconds he could forget all the crap that had happened, and all that was about to happen.  
"I'm so sorry, Gray." He closed his eyes, tense, waiting for the sword to stab him. Sure enough…  
"Sorry isn't good enough." Jack gasped in pain as the sword cut through him like butter. He fell to the floor, and died.

* * *

He gasped as he regained consciousness again, realizing he was now tied up. He looked at Gray, still hoping he could make him forget about his plan, hoping he could persuade him to forgive him. "I looked for you. I searched for you for years. You were my first thought, every day."  
"What are you expecting, mm? A loving reunion? Absolution? Me to say, 'It's OK, brother, I forgive you.'? Those creatures, they lived to torture. They kept us just on the verge of life. I'd lie there, hemmed in by corpses, praying to become one. Because you... let go... of my hand, remember?"  
"If I could swap with you, I would. I know you're angry Gray, but this is not the way to make yourself feel better…"  
"I believed you'd come, but you never did. How long before you gave up, hmm? Months? Years? Decades?"  
"What do you want from me?"  
"I want you to suffer. I want your life. This is Cardiff. 27AD. the city will be built here, over the next 2,000 years. Your grave will be the city's foundations. Your blessing of life becomes a curse. Each time you revive, with a throat-full of earth, each time it chokes you afresh, and you thrash on the edge of death, you think of me.  
John stepped forwards suddenly. "All right, calling a halt now I can't let you do this."

"John, it's ok." Both John and Gray stared at Jack, shocked. "He feels he has to do this, let him. But please, Gray…" he got no further, because at that moment Gray stepped forwards and shoved him into the freshly dug grave.  
"Fill the grave." He demanded. John swallowed.  
"No way."  
"Then the detonator on your arm gets activated!"  
John looked down at Jack, who did his best to reassure him with a look and a small smile. John looked puzzled, but Jack couldn't come out and say why he wanted to be buried. He looked at John's ring, hoping to convey the message that he needed it. To his relief, John took off the ring, kissed it, and threw it into the hole to land on Jack's chest.  
"What's that?" Gray asked sharply. It was obvious he was expecting a trick. He clearly had expected Jack to struggle more.  
"It's, err, sentimental value." John told him, and glanced down again at Jack. Jack winked at him, and he began to fill in the hole.

Jack swallowed nervously as the first clumps of earth hit him. He had hoped so much to be able to change Gray's mind. He had never planned on being buried, but he didn't really have any choice. Still, it didn't matter. He'd come up with a new plan.

* * *

Ianto glanced around nervously as he followed Toshiko out of the building. He hated knowing what was going to happen, it made him feel so helpless. All those people, and he couldn't save any of them.

"Toshiko. I need you to run a trace for an etheric particle signal NME transmitting at 200 beta cycles."

Toshiko gasped as john's voice came through the comm system. Ianto bit his lip. He did feel sorry for John, but if he'd buried Jack then he didn't deserve Ianto's sympathy. Not really anyway.

"Gwen, where are you? What's he doing? Where's Jack?" Toshiko asked desperately.  
"Trace that signal, we'll find him."  
"It's OK, Tosh. I've got him covered. Just do as he says."

Tosh glanced nervously at Ianto. He wished he could tell her what he knew, reassure her.  
"No signals even vaguely resembling that."  
"Uh, no, there must be. That transmitter was guaranteed for five millennia through three ecological permalayers - it has to still be transmitting. 'If not, we'll never find him. He'll be buried...' forever"

Ianto opened his mouth to tell them exactly where they could find Jack. He knew he wasn't going to be able to explain how he knew, but he didn't care. He couldn't let Owen and Toshiko die whilst Jack lay frozen in a drawer in the morgue. Then the Weevil signal came on, and drove all thoughts out of his head replacing them with an unthinking agony. Before it had even finished sounding, he was running as fast as he could to get to the exit. If he could get out into the streets before the weevils appeared… but as soon as he and Tosh got outside, he realized it was too late. He had wasted time, should have run straight to the power station. The weevils were already out. "Owen, Gwen, can you hear me? The streets are flooded with weevils, they came out of nowhere. There's no chance we'll get to the nuclear power station in time."

He heard Owen's voice. "Ianto, leave it to me. I can get there."

"No."

"King of the Weevils, remember? It's fine"

"No, Owen, you don't understand…" but Owen had already gone.

* * *

Ianto and Tosh made their way cautiously into the Hub. They had managed to get through the streets of Cardiff unscathed, and Ianto had no intention of allowing the Weevils they kept in the Hub to kill him. As they stepped into the main area, they could see Gwen and John surrounded by three Weevils.

"You know you've got a real pest problem around here." Ianto heard john say, and suppressed a laugh. It really said something about John that he could make jokes at a time like this. He and Toshiko pulled out their guns and started shooting. Gwen spun around to face them.

"Oh, God, I'm so pleased to see you!"

Ianto strode forwards, his eyes fixed on John who backed up nervously. "Are you alright?" he asked. John, Gwen and Tosh all blinked, confused.  
"Huh?" john said, staring at him.

"Did you bury him?!" Ianto asked quietly.

"Don't start, I'll make things right, Eye Candy."

Ianto opened his mouth again to tell them where Jack was, that it was all ok, but he was interrupted by Toshiko.

"Then start by getting those Weevils down the vaults before they recover. It takes more than a bullet to stop them."

He shrugged, and then he, Gwen and John dragged the injured weevils towards the cells.

* * *

"You're being very calm about this, Ianto!" Gwen remarked as they each dragged a weevil into one of the small cells.

Ianto flushed. "Believe me; I am anything but calm…"

"I didn't have a choice!"

"But I know that he's telling the truth. He did have no choice." He dropped his weevil quickly, hoping to be able to get out of the cell before the door shut, but he was too late again.

"Whoa! What's happening? Tosh? Tosh! Ianto, my comms are dead."

"Gwen?"

Ianto realized Gray must have shown up. He couldn't quite hear what was being said, but he remembered the conversation well enough. He remembered the look on Gray's face when John talked to him about honour.

"Gray? You're Gray, right? There's no need for this, we can help you. Just tell us where Jack is." Ianto almost laughed. Gwen really did think you could sort everything out by talking! Still, it was nice that she wasn't yet so cynical. He gasped as Gray walked past his cell. Like everyone else, he had a striking similarity to the person who had played him on the TV. Ianto could remember Kitty exclaiming how 'fit' she thought the actor was. He wondered what she'd have thought of the real Gray. He looked a lot more like Jack than Ianto had been expecting, and it unnerved him somewhat.

* * *

Toshiko ran from computer to computer, frantically tapping buttons. She was waiting for Owen to contact her; she had to bring up the power stations files…

"Tosh, you're going to have to help me out here, I haven't got a bloody clue what I'm doing."

She swallowed. "OK, I don't want you to panic, but the reactor's already hit the critical point."  
"You're telling me it's going into meltdown, aren't you? And I'm at the eye of the storm."  
"Yes. Sorry."  
"Right, can you fix it?"  
Tosh grinned as she realized what she could do. "Of course I can, I'm brilliant!"  
"Yeah."  
"I'm gonna try and divert power from the auxiliary source back to Turnmill. If that works, I can talk you through restoring the coolant system." She walked over and picked up her handheld computer, looking intently at the readings. "Right. Now..."

She gasped as she heard a gunshot, and felt something hit her stomach. She'd been shot.

* * *

Ianto frowned suddenly as he sat inside the cell. He checked his watch. _It should be now…_ "Where's the banging?" he said softly.

Gwen frowned, listening hard. "What banging? I cant hear anything."

"Exactly." Ianto stood up and went to peer out into the corridor. "So where's Jack?"

**

* * *

**

Sorry to leave it halfway through, but I thought the chapter was getting a bit too long! Should have the next half up tomorrow, and then that will be the last chapter!


	13. Chapter 13

**I know this is a really quick update, but I couldn't sleep last night so in the end I gave up and wrote fanfiction instead! This is the final chapter. Enjoy!**

* * *

Toshiko closed her eyes in horror, waiting for the inevitable blackness. It was taking longer than she had expected. And, wait, shouldn't it hurt more? Opening her eyes, she looked down at her stomach. There were a few flecks of blood, sure, but there didn't seem to be any actual wound. so what had happened? She looked up, and saw a man – Gray, that was his name. Jack's brother – lying on the ground, clutching his arm, which was bleeding profusely and glaring up at someone else. A gun lay about a meter away from him, and Toshiko went cold with the sudden realisation that he had been about to shoot her. She looked up to see who it was who had saved her.

"Jack! Jack, you're ok!"

She couldn't believe it, she had been so worried. Gray was also staring up at Jack, anger and horror and some other emotion on his face. "How did you survive?!"

* * *

"_Please, can we just stop with the questions?" Jack really didn't want to have to talk to these people. He had been suffering for the past 1,874 years. He didn't want to have to relive those days__.  
"We found you in a 20-foot grave! Do you want us to just accept that?"  
Jack glared at her. "Yes, I do."  
Now the man spoke up. "You're supposed to be out there working for us! Who gave you this ring?"  
Jack was suddenly angry. He had to sort this out, and these people were being infuriatingly slow on the uptake that he didn't want to answer questions. "I've crossed my own timeline! I can't be allowed to meet myself; a lot of lives depend on this! You'll be protecting the future. That's what you're here for, isn't it?! And now I need you to put me in the morgue. Freeze me, set the alarm to defrost in 106 years time."_

"_And what happens then?"_

_Jack fixed her with a steely glare. "I save the world."_

_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

_Jack gasped as he regained consciousness. For a moment he thought he was still buried, he could almost taste the earth clogging his throat, choking him… then his mind cleared and he realized he was in the morgue drawer at Torchwood. It had worked! It was now exactly a year before the events of 'Exit Wounds'. Plenty of time to formulate a rescue strategy. It was only now, however, that he realized the flaw in his plan. He couldn't get out by himself. _Damn!_ He'd been hoping to slip away unnoticed, he couldn't have any of the team knowing what was going to happen…still, it wasn't like he had a choice here. It was either: alert the team to the fact that he was there, or wait in this drawer for a year. And he knew which would be easier for him. _I could always ret-con whoever comes to find me._ Jack reasoned, and began banging on the drawer. He hoped to God it wasn't Owen who opened the drawer; he would be most likely to ask the most questions…_

_Jack swore quietly as light suddenly flooded his face when the drawer was pulled open. He sat up, blinking, and realized it was Ianto. "Oh thank God it's you!" he exclaimed. He made to throw his arms around the young man's neck, but he flinched away from him as though Jack had a contagious disease or something._

"_Don't touch me!" he hissed._

_Jack was hurt. Why was Ianto acting like this? He did some quick mental calculations and realized with horror that it was only a week since Lisa had died. Oh, that was all he needed, a version of Ianto that still wanted him dead. And that meant he wouldn't trust him. Damn. He thought quickly. "Ianto, listen to me, some creatures are loose in the Hub. I don't know what they are, but one of them hit me and locked me in the drawer. We have to find them…"_

"_So where's the body?"_

"_Excuse me?"_

"_The body, sir." Ianto said coolly. "That drawer has been occupied by 'John Doe' since long before I arrived at Torchwood three."_

_Jack stared at Ianto, absorbing this. How the hell had he known that? Sometimes he hated that Ianto could be so efficient._

"_Ok, Ianto, the truth. You deserve that. I've crossed my own timeline; I'm from a year into the future. I can't tell you what's going on, but it is vitally important that I get out of here without meeting anyone. Especially myself."_

_Ianto regarded him for a few seconds. "If you're from the future, how come you've been in there since 1901?"_

_Jack's face clouded over. "I can't talk about it. I don't want to talk about it. Just trust me when I say I need to get out. And I need to retcon you. You can't remember this; it will disrupt the whole timeline."_

"_And why should I trust you?" Ianto spat. "__You killed Lisa. You destroyed my life. You expect me to just accept what you're telling me without proof? And then to let you take my memories?!"_

"_Ianto, please!" Jack was begging now. He was painfully aware that every second he remained in the Hub was another second one of the other team members, or himself, walked in. "You want proof?" he dug into his pocket and pulled out a battered leather wallet. He pulled out a few pictures, making sure Ianto didn't see any of them. Most of them were of the two men together, and Jack didn't think Ianto could handle that just yet. He selected a picture that was more innocent. It showed all five of them seated on Toshiko's sofa, grinning, with a big 'Happy 24__th__!' cake in front of them. Gwen and Jack both had had there arms draped comfortably over Ianto's shoulders. Toshiko and Owen were both laughing at a joke Owen had just told, Owen not quite looking at the camera. They all looked so happy. "Your birthday." He explained at Ianto's blank look._

"_But that's not for another few months…"_

"_Exactly."_

_Ianto gazed in wonder at the picture. "They're celebrating it…" he traced a finger over the image, drinking it in._

_Jack felt a huge twinge of guilt at the look on Ianto's face. He must have been so lonely back then...up until then none of Ianto's previous four birthdays had been recognized, he had never got more than a vague 'Happy birthday' as he handed someone their coffee. With a grin he remembered the look of suspicious delight on Ianto's face when Jack had forced him to go to Toshiko's and he had found the other three there with presents, all grinning at him._

_The young man looked up at him suddenly. "Tell me what happens." He said. _

"_I can't do that."_

"_So answer yes or no. What happens to me? Am I still at Torchwood?"_

"_Yes."_

"_Am I happy?"_

"_Yes. Very happy." Something in Jack's tone made Ianto look up at him sharply._

"_Am I seeing someone else?"_

_Jack tried not to let any emotion show on his face. "Yes."_

_Ianto nodded. Jack felt relieved, he was afraid Ianto might ask about this person, and Jack couldn't tell him it was he. If he was right about the date, it was at least another two weeks until the two men got together, and at least two or three months until either of them admitted to feelings deeper than 'casual shag'._

_Ianto seemed to be battling with himself. __Eventually he made a decision. "Ok. I'll get you out of the Hub. But I wont let you retcon me."_

"_I have to."_

"_No." Ianto turned to walk out of the room, and Jack grabbed him, pushing the pressure point on the back of his neck to make him black out, catching the young man before he hit the floor. Dragging Ianto back into the main area of the Hub, he laid him carefully on the sofa, then went into his office and retrieved a retcon pill. Walking back down to the unconscious Ianto, he placed it in the young man's mouth, and then poured water in after it. Ianto reflexively swallowed. Jack sat there for a few minutes, stroking the young man's hair. Then he realized that he really had to get out of there so, with a final kiss to Ianto's forehead, he activated the invisible lift and rose out into the city above, knowing that it would be at least another year until he saw any of this again._

* * *

Jack glared down at the prone figure on the floor. "I forgive you, Gray. I give you absolution. Now do the same for me."

In answer, Gray spat at the floor in Jack's direction. "I prayed for death. Those creatures, the things they did to us, because of **you**, the favourite son, the one who lived, who'll always live. The only strength I have is my hatred for you."

Jack winced at the hatred in his voice, then turned his attention to Toshiko. "You ok?"

She was distracted by Owen's voice over the comms. "Tosh, talk to me. I need your help here, babe."

"I'm fine, Jack. You need to go and find the others, I'll stay here and help Owen."

Jack nodded, and turned to run down to the cells, then paused. He eyed Gray warily. He should really knock him out, even without a gun there was no telling what he could do. Unable to stop the tears sliding down his face, Jack held a rohypnol soaked handkerchief up to Gray's mouth, only releasing him when the young man stopped struggling. "Tie him up." He said to Toshiko and swept out of the room, rubbing his eyes.

* * *

"I've got an idea."

Ianto listened desperately as he heard John fiddling about with a piece of tech. It was all very well sending out the recall signal, but that still didn't help any of them. What had happened to Jack? John told him he buried him, so he should have woken up by now, distracted Gray from Tosh… Ianto balked suddenly as he realised that Toshiko would have already been shot. And with Gray standing over her, she couldn't help Owen either. "This cant be how it ends…" he whispered, appalled.

Then the high pitched whining sound filled the air.

"What have you done?!" demanded Gwen.

"Recall signal. Time for all the pets to return home." John smiled triumphantly.

"Jack!" Ianto started at Gwen's joyous shout, and ran to the door, which swung open. Gwen had already grabbed Jack and was squeezing him hard. Jack carefully disentangled himself and grabbed Ianto into a hug, pressing his lips to the younger man's forehead.

"Quite a queue for the hugs."

Jack and Ianto both turned to grin at John.

"Always has been, always will be. Nice use of the ring by the way."

"Thank you. Least I could do. Listen, Gray's in the Hub."

Jack's face darkened. "I know. It's done." He glanced over at Ianto and Gwen. "Come on. We need to get back to the main section"

* * *

"Tosh, come on girl. Here we go. Right, you've done it Tosh, you've got power! Are you OK?"

Toshiko smiled at the note of concern in Owen's voice. "Yeah, I'm fine. We just had a little trouble with Jack's brother. Its fine."

"Right. You sure?"

"Yeah."

"Come on, let's do this together."

"Right… okay…" she hit a few keys and froze at what was on the screen. "Oh god. Owen..."

"What's the matter?"

"There's no way to stop the meltdown. It's too far gone."

"OK, OK, that is not good, is it? But come on, Tosh, there's got to be something, there's always something. Come on."

Tosh was distracted by Jack running back in, closely followed by John, Gwen and Ianto, the latter of whom froze at the sight of her and stared as though he'd seen a ghost. She frowned, wondering at his reaction, and then Jack flicked on his own comms system.  
"Owen? It's Jack. Listen, the only option is to vent the flow channels internally."

Toshiko was puzzled. He hadn't been here, how had he know what Owen had been saying?

"Jack! Good to have you back mate. Vent them where?"

"The area you're in is the containment building."

"Yeah?"

Toshiko tapped a few more keys and spoke to him again. "You need to set up a time-delay program, channel the fuel into that bunker and instigate permanent lockdown. Seal the building and the meltdown will be contained within. And, obviously, remember to get out!"

"Yeah, I think I can remember that bit, thanks."

Toshiko grinned slightly. "I'll open the system protocol, you just need to enter the timeframe and authorise, OK?"

"OK, Tosh. Let's do this thing. And, Tosh, thank you."

"That's what I'm here for."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ianto pulled Jack over to one side. "You saved her! But…how?"

Jack blushed slightly. "I'll explain later. Right now what's important is that she's alive, and she's ok. We did it, Ianto!"

"There's still Owen."

"Yes, but we know what's going to happen! And we have more time. Ianto, its ok!" the two men hugged joyously, before Jack crushed his lips passionately into Ianto's. They jumped apart when they heard Gwen clear her throat.

"Sorry to break up the little moment, guys, but do you want to come help out Toshiko over here? For some reason you seem to know what you're doing!"

* * *

"Ok, Owen, you're doing great!" Jack called cheerfully over the comm system.

"Yeah, thanks Jack, I am trying to work here!" Jack grinned at the irritated note in Owen's voice. It seemed weird that none of them would ever know what he and Ianto had done to protect them…

"Jack!" he looked up at the alarm in Ianto's voice, and saw what he had spotted. Jack had become distracted, and hadn't noticed the power surge.

"OWEN, GET OUT OF THERE NOW!" he yelled.

"Hold on…Yes! Rock and roll!"

"Owen, now! There's a power surge coming!"

"What?"

"A power surge! It'll trigger the emergency lockdown! MOVE!"

"Oh, shit." Owen set off at a run for the door, alarms starting blaring as he was about halfway there.

"Owen?! Owen, are you there?"

"NO!!"

Jack's eyes widened at the sound of Owen's scream. "Owen, tell me you got out, please?!"

"I can't get out! Not like this. **Not like this**! I'm not going yet. Get me out of here, Tosh! Get me out of here! I've died once; I'm not doing it again! What're you all doing?! Where's Gwen, Ianto, John? You want to watch the dead man die again?!"

"Owen, just stay calm…"

"Why should I do that? Where's the fun in that? I'm gonna rage my way to oblivion!" he screamed, and Jack pulled out his earpiece, his face deathly white. Toshiko and Gwen had started crying now. Ianto ushered Gwen and John into the conference room, sure Toshiko would rather have this conversation without people listening. He felt numb. Owen was going to die… turning, he knelt down beside Jack and put his arm around his shoulder. The other man didn't respond.

"Please stop." Toshiko was crying in earnest now.

"Why? Give me one good bloody reason why - one good reason why I shouldn't keep screaming."

"Because you're breaking my heart!" she sobbed loudly, tears cascading down her face. Ianto could hear Owen panting over the system.

"I'm sorry."

Toshiko gulped. "It's my fault…"

"No, no, no, it isn't. No, it isn't. Don't you dare go there, Tosh. I'm really sorry." There was a pause. "What's gonna happen to me, Tosh?"

"I can't…"

"Please. OK, I need to know."

Toshiko wiped her face with her hand. She couldn't believe this was happening. "The…the containment chamber will be flooded with the irradiated coolant."

"Ah. My body will slowly decompose, as I watch."

"I should've been able to stop it!"

"Oh, come on, Tosh. There's no way you could've anticipated that power spike, come on."

Ianto looked down at Jack, who if possible turned even whiter at that comment. Because he could have anticipated the spike. They both could. They knew it was coming.

"Besides, you've saved… my back so many times in the past. Right from the moment I joined."

Tosh smiled weakly. "Your second week I had to cover for you, pretend I was a medic, because you were hung over and unreachable."

"What was it, Space Pig?"

"Space Pig." She gave a small laugh, which dissolved into more sobs.

"Please, Tosh. Please don't cry." Toshiko tried to stop. "We never did get that date, did we, you and me? We sort of, err, missed each other. It was my fault. I didn't... didn't notice until it was too late. I'm sorry."

"Me too."

There was another pause, then Owen spoke quietly. "It's starting."

"Owen…"

"It's all right. Really, Tosh. It's all right."

"I love you."

"I…I love you too. Oh, God…"

"Owen…"  
There was nothing but static now. Owen had gone. Gwen and John emerged from the conference room, John with his eyes a little watery, Gwen with silent tears rolling down her face.

"NOOOAGH!" Jack gave a sudden anguished cry and began to rock back and forwards. "It's my fault!" he shouted, before dissolving into noisy, racking, gasping sobs.

* * *

Later that night, after Ianto had logged Owen permanently off the system and Jack had sent everyone home, Jack called Ianto into his office. He felt terrible; shutting Gray away in the cryogenic drawer in the morgue had been heartbreaking, on top of everything else that had happened. "I can't do this, Yan. I really can't."

Ianto frowned. "We have to, Jack. It's not our fault…"

"Yes it is! It is our fault, we could have saved him!"

"What are you saying, Jack?"

Jack produced several small white pills. "I want us to retcon ourselves. Take the four months; back to before we went through the Rift."

"We can't…"

"Ianto, maybe you can live with yourself, but I can't! I can't face Toshiko everyday knowing that he died because of me!"

"We saved Toshiko, Jack! That has to mean something!"

"It does! Oh God, it does. But I can't not feel sorry about Owen. Besides, you saw what happens in series three! Do you really want to know **that's** coming?"

Ianto felt suddenly angry. "So, what, you want us to forget about everything? About Kitty, and James, and everything that happened in the other world?!" Jack nodded. "We're supposed to be getting married, Jack! Or does that not mean anything to you?!"

"Of course it does." Jack said sharply. "I want to marry you more than anything in this entire world. But I have to forget this, Ianto. I can't live with myself, and I have to do that forever."

Ianto looked into his lover's face and softened at the anguish and pain he saw there. "But if we forget, it won't happen. You said yourself that before we fell through the Rift you would never…"

"I know. But I'm sure I will someday! I love you and I want to be with you, and that is not a result of what happened through the Rift."

Ianto nodded. He thought around for something to change the topic. "How did you save Toshiko by the way?"

Jack smiled "I told them to freeze me for 106 years. I've been living just off the coast of Scotland for the past year." For some reason, Ianto found this quite funny and began to laugh.

"How did you get out?"

"You got me out. I had to retcon you, so sorry about that."

Ianto blinked at him. "I…" he suddenly remembered Owen waking him up with a smirk about a year ago, muttering something about it being sad to drink alone when Ianto had admitted to having no memory of the previous few hours. "That was you?"

"Yeah. And now I have to do it again." Tears began to slide down Jack's cheeks again. "Please, Yan. Don't make this any harder than it has to be, please."

"I don't want to forget…" Ianto said quietly.

"Neither do I" Jack whispered, coming round from behind his desk and giving Ianto a hug. The younger man looked up at him.

"I'll do it. For you."

"Thank you" Jack whispered, and Ianto leaned up and kissed him softly. When they broke apart, he reached up and unclasped the chain which held his wedding ring, pulling it from round his neck. Fighting back more tears, he held it out to Jack.

"This might trigger memories." He said. Jack nodded. Ianto suddenly threw the ring across the room, not wanting to look at it any more. Jack caught hold of his arm and held him close, whispering incoherently into the younger man's hair. The two men slid down the wall and sat side by side on the floor, and Jack held out the pills. Ianto swallowed them, and laid his head on Jack's shoulder. Jack waited until he heard the young man's breathing grow steady, asleep. Then he swallowed his own pills. As the room began to grow fuzzy and he had to fight to keep his eyes open, Jack realised he was crying again. He didn't want to surrender the good memories.

But sometimes, it was better to forget.

* * *

_When Gwen and Toshiko turned up to work the next morning, both of them feeling drained and broken, they saw Jack and Ianto standing beside the computer monitor, watching the CCTV of when Owen had died. Jack turned to face them as they came in. "What happened?" he whispered._

_"How can you have forgotten? Are you alright?"_

_"No. Neither I nor Ianto have any memory of the last 3 weeks. The last thing I remember was weevil hunting, and then I woke up here."_

"_Do you remember falling into the Rift?"_

_Jack and Ianto exchanged a startled look. "The Rift? What happened?!"_

"_We don't know. You fell in and came back 24 hours later. You're fine though" Gwen said hastily. She looked at Toshiko. "What do you reckon? Delayed trauma?"_

"_I don't know. Could be. I'm not a medic…" at this her eyes filled with tears again. Jack turned suddenly and disappeared into his office. He sat at his desk and buried his head in his hands. Owen was dead. How could he not remember that? He felt tears prick the back of his eyelids and fought them down. He had to be strong for his team. His eyes were suddenly caught by something gold glinting in the corner of the room. A ring? Jack went and picked it up, examining it with a curious expression on his face. How the hell had that got there? He certainly hadn't bought it. He cared for Ianto, sure, but there was no way he'd ever _propose. _He just didn't do that sort of thing. He supposed he had better hide it, didn't want Ianto getting ideas. He strode over to the safe in the wall, opened it and placed the ring right at the back, then closed the safe and returned to the others in the Hub._

_And forgot all about it._

END.

**

* * *

**

Finished! Big thanks and hugs to everyone who reviewed! It's been great.

**And thanks to everyone who read it! Hope you liked it! Please don't hate me for still letting Owen die! :'(**

**Might write a sequel after the exams, if people like it.**


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